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Young people don’t want construction jobs
51–60 of 103 posts
Re: Young people don’t want construction jobs
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that stigmatizing trades has contributed to this issue, but we've also simultaneously made trades worse by allowing their unions to decay and be deregulating the industries that use them.
Over the last 40 years the trades also had influx of illegal immigrants entering the profession. These have been folks who were willing to do the very difficult work for less pay and no recourse if the conditions were unsafe. Obviously not all trades as most firms won’t gamble using unlicensed electricians and plumbers. On the other hand roofing, drywall, concrete, etc... have been more readily given to folks who wor…
Which I would argue is only possible _because_ unions have mostly disintegrated. Scabs are a lot harder to hire, especially illegal immigrant scabs, if there's a union around to hold the company accountable.
Re: Young people don’t want construction jobs
#53I'd love to work construction. But every time I've mentioned it to my family they tell me about how it will destroy my knees and back, I'll lose fingers, get hearing damage, head injuries, and the pay is crap compared to the risk. If there was decent workplace safety (my hometown is infamous for it's poor safety standards), and a good pension program where you're expected to want to quit and do something else after 1…
This is a big reason why unions were created in the first place. Create safer working conditions, and make it possible for people who wear their bodies out can retire.
But what if I want to retire with a healthy body not a crippled one?
Re: Young people don’t want construction jobs
#54Wow, the entire article doesn't mention once what the average wage for entry-level construction workers is. That's probably a huge part of the puzzle -- to omit that seems almost intentionally misleading, or at least bad journalism. Also, construction is a job that's notoriously hard on your body. You can't count on being able to do it into your 60s like office work, and one bad accident can end your career in constr…
Seems like $14.07. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Construction_Labore... Even "Construction Worker" doesn't bring it up much ($14.75), which means there's nothing in that career directly. https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Construction_Worker... The next step in that career is to be a manager or foreman. The Foreman only gets $22.36. ($38k/yr) https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Construction_Fore…
Overheard a construction manager talking about workers making over $120k in SF —-with overtime
Re: Young people don’t want construction jobs
#55All they have to do is offer 300k a year and unlimited PTO.
Ez.
Re: Young people don’t want construction jobs
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
And part of telling them not to do those jobs was the college for everyone idea. It was a good ideal, but the problem is, going to college and getting that English 4-year degree doesn't really help you get a job that pays enough to pay off those student loans and save for retirement. What they said on Prairie Home Companion was correct, everyone does thing their child is exceptional and should go to college instead o…
I agree that stigmatizing trades has contributed to this issue, but we've also simultaneously made trades worse by allowing their unions to decay and be deregulating the industries that use them.
So why don't they just pay workers more if they need more.
Let demand drive price. This is a clear example of where you don't need a union. Because the companies will simply have to pay more. No need for a union to negotiate higher wages.
Re: Young people don’t want construction jobs
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
On point. You want people just give then good salaryies, benefits, and career growth.
Some construction jobs are better than others. In SF, for example, there are many undersea construction jobs that pay very well. The CTO of Coinbase envisions that construction[0] as an industry is ripe for disruption, reaping the fruits of technology like VR controllable drones[1]. If you make construction like a video game, “young people” will flock to it. [0] https://medium.com/conversations-with-tyler/tyler-cowen…
> If you make construction like a video game, “young people” will flock to it
That's not why "young people" aren't getting into construction. Fact is, there are easier jobs that pay about the same that are way easier to get into and won't destroy your body by the time you're 40.
Taking the "destroy your body by the time you're 40" out of the equation might help, but the problem with construction definitely isn't the lack of video games.
Re: Young people don’t want construction jobs
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
On point. You want people just give then good salaryies, benefits, and career growth.
I know a few people in construction, they started working for someone by fixing doors, do painting etc. until they learned enough to find their own clients. It's easier than you think to find a friend who needs something to get fixed and get more clients from there by doing local advertising or even door to door knocking to check if people need some fixes. These people I know now hire their own workers (and still wor…
> It's easier than you think to find a friend who needs something to get fixed and get more clients from there by doing local advertising or even door to door knocking to check if people need some fixes.
And... treat it like a business. Show up on time. Answer your phone/text/emails. If you need to cancel, give notice.
I'm continually flummoxed at how generally bad service industries are in many areas. We had one guy cutting our lawn. BEST EVER. Younger kid - showed up on time, notified ahead when he was coming, would notify if he couldn't make it re: weather delays, then would give us updated time/date. Even more "professional" than professional services we've used. We had one good year, then "I'm going to college, and can't do this any more". He could probably earn more expanding out his operation than he will from whatever college degree he will get. :(
Re: Young people don’t want construction jobs
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
And part of telling them not to do those jobs was the college for everyone idea. It was a good ideal, but the problem is, going to college and getting that English 4-year degree doesn't really help you get a job that pays enough to pay off those student loans and save for retirement. What they said on Prairie Home Companion was correct, everyone does thing their child is exceptional and should go to college instead o…
I agree that stigmatizing trades has contributed to this issue, but we've also simultaneously made trades worse by allowing their unions to decay and be deregulating the industries that use them.
OSHA has largely supplanted union safety regulations but the real issue killing this work is just workforce education.
We spend thousands to pay for 12 years of public education for each student to teach them things like Calculus and Geopolitics and Literature only for them to perform manual construction labor that an illegal immigrant from Central America with zero schooling can do?
Yah that’s not happening...
Re: Young people don’t want construction jobs
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that stigmatizing trades has contributed to this issue, but we've also simultaneously made trades worse by allowing their unions to decay and be deregulating the industries that use them.
Over the last 40 years the trades also had influx of illegal immigrants entering the profession. These have been folks who were willing to do the very difficult work for less pay and no recourse if the conditions were unsafe. Obviously not all trades as most firms won’t gamble using unlicensed electricians and plumbers. On the other hand roofing, drywall, concrete, etc... have been more readily given to folks who wor…
I've seen, for routine work, the licensed plumber or electrician just signs off on work (doesn't even inspect it) and gets paid for being licensed and the actual worker gets a cut of that.