The skilled trades haven't caught as a career choice with Gen Z

Post by cudgy » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 7:09 PM UTC

oceanplexian wrote: post #54

Ancalagon wrote: post #4

Same labor shortage as everywhere that the government likes to pretend doesn't exist. 10 million working-age men can't or won't work. Of the ones willing to work, almost none want to spend their time learning skills for back-breaking, barely-middle class skills jobs which they'll be forced to retire from at 55 because their knees give out. Same answer for the shortage as everywhere that the economists don't want to h…

Fitting pipes together is not "back breaking". We're not talking about framing or roofing, in the contracting world plumbing is a light duty skilled trade that anyone with half a brain can earn a 6-figure income on. If you take care of yourself and wear protective equipment, you won't have a problem with your knees in middle age. There's no "forced retirement", someone working as an independent contractor for 25 year…

Post by orwin » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 7:10 PM UTC

modoc wrote: post #27

lemoncookiechip wrote: post #19

It's almost as if people are less willing to work jobs that actively harm their long-term physical health (back-breaking jobs) or those harmful for their mental health (generally ones face to face with customers, customer support or high stress jobs), for a relatively small wage to said job's demands and lasting effects.

Where are you finding small wage plumbers or carpenters? All the trades here (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, carpentry (perhaps more on the finish side vs framing though) are extremely expensive, with hourly rates between $80-$150/hour. (source - did a lot of renovations on my house, and my BIL is an electrician).

Post by Ekaros » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 7:12 PM UTC

tpmx wrote: post #41

adamsmith143 wrote: post #21

Well for all the broohaha from the "YOU DONT NEED COLLEGE" folks the reality is still that trades are very underpaid unless you run your own business and your body will break down doing physical labor for 8+ hours a day.

In e.g. Scandinavia: The salary difference between say a software dev and a trade worker is pretty small (perhaps 30% less after taxes). The body breaking down aspect is still an issue. Younger people in these fields seem a lot more aware though - they're practically health freaks compared to your stereotypical 50-ish somewhat round trade worker with back pain issues. I guess we'll have to wait and see how that gener…

Post by falcolas » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 7:31 PM UTC

mfer wrote: post #91

UncleMeat wrote: post #33

"We need more tradespeople" seems to be an evergreen news article. My brother in law is an electrician. He is paid alright, enough to live on. But there are HUGE downsides. He does not receive health insurance. He does not get paid vacation. In order to match decent white-collar pay, he needs to work overtime. His company pushes hard to get jobs finished fast, causing people to cut safety corners. Many of his coworke…

This isn't the case for all trades people. It might be a bad area or a bad employer. I've know trades folks who are electricians, plumbers, carpenters, work in road construction, etc. They typically work reasonable hours, have medical, and are paid at or above the median income for where they live. They didn't rack up debt getting into this either. This is not a bad deal for many people.

Post by falcolas » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 7:36 PM UTC

bruceb wrote: post #86

onion2k wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes Econ101 supply and demand theory isn't nuanced enough. Wages can go up at the same time as the supply increases if the amount of money in the system also increases. How do you think software engineer wages rocketed up over the past 20 years?

Apples and oranges. One assumes there is a relatively fixed supply of plumbing problems. Software in the last 30+ years has created new industries which require more software people.