Thursday, June 16, 2022
Commentary: A Mastery of the Skilled Trades Is Essential for a Free People
The Government Accountability Office on Wednesday revealed that Boeing is having trouble finding qualified workers for its nearly $5 billion Air Force One project. Thanks to COVID-related delays and retirements, the project is understaffed and behind schedule. The aviation giant has already lost $1.1 billion on the deal, which was contracted in 2018 at a fixed price of $3.9 billion and may not be finished until mid-2025.
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That not only applies to the aviation industry but to the country in its entirety, all industries inclusive. It was not only the engineers dreaming up all this modern whiz bang stuff we use now, it was the people smiled in putting this stuff together that built America and the rest of the industrialized world. If you can build, fix & repair, and perform needed service on stuff, as well as understand how stuff works, you will always be in demand and have a job.
ReplyDeleteWell, if they would stop pushing the mandatory jabs up in the socialist state of InsleeWA maybe they'd get a few more sensible applicants. Also, the dearth of young people wanting to start in a trade is caused by the decades of Big Tech pushing the idea that their futures really depend on learning to code or some other job using computers. I tried for years to get two of our grandsons to get into apprenticeships, telling them that they could get paid while they train and that most apprenticeships have a graduated pay scale leading up to a good journeyman wage. But, no....they're both in their late 20's and one is a Pizza Hut assistant manager and the other still works in a call center, neither one of them having any type pension. I had a very decent life starting out as a maintenance electrician apprentice in OH and then getting into nuclear and hydroelectric plant maintenance and operation.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many really skilled workers have been kicked down the road simply because they tested positive for cannabis?
ReplyDeleteI own and operate a small business that has installed, maintained and serviced marine electronics for over 40 years. I am ready to retire, debt free with adequate retirement funding. The business grosses between $250,000 and $100,000 a year, depending on how hard you want to work. For the past 5 years I have searched for someone with basic electrical and mechanical knowledge, and I do mean basic. I have interview 6 individuals that "fit the bill" as they say. I explained that I wanted to;
ReplyDelete• train someone to take over the business and in the future using their "sweat equity" to own it.
• help them with industry specific training.
• be available in the future to consult with them on projects.
• start them at $15.00 to $20.00 per hour
• have them start part time or full time and we could work around their schedules.
• transfer all my wholesale accounts to them upon transferring business ownership.
• sell them all existing inventory at cost.
Sounds like a pretty good deal, don’t you think?
Every one of the six, when asked to commit couldn’t or wouldn’t. I am slowly selling inventory and winding down the business. New customers call and I tell them I am not taking on any new customers. Many in the industry ask me who I can recommend. Unfortunately, there is no one locally with the necessary skills.
This is the future. Not just in my industry, but everywhere. I’m glad I’m not a kid having to look forward to finding and keeping a job in the coming shit show…..
Melk
If your business is in south FLA I know a man who might be interested. Decades in the industry, highly experienced, an entrepreneur.
DeleteThe offer sounded good up until $15-20/hr which isn't anywhere near enough to pay for the essentials of a roof, food, cell, and transport; not including insurance or fluff things like emergency / savings. I just did a quick search for Marine Electronics Technician pay / salary range and it's around $65,000 - $85,000 that is from people currently employed in the field and career sites inside the US and outside. Other searches for electrical engineering for FRESH college graduates start at the same range and listings for various electrical positions brings up $25 - $40/hr depending on job title, location, and skill / experience. Naturally, Austin pays more than backwoods Texas.
DeleteYou are trying to pay minimum wage for skilled labor; then wonder why you receive so few qualified applicants? There is no shortage of skilled labor, just a shortage at the price you are offering. $20 was probably great in the 80s but we aren't in that time anymore. Back then, companies were better behaved, wages (purchasing power) were fair, and loyalty was generally respected both ways. Loyalty to a company today results in stagnate wages and exploitation of employees; job hopping is the new way of the land. Exploiting and screwing employees is expected and if your offer is listed at the usual places, it has likely been passed up as just another lowball by hundreds of candidates that smell something fishy. Even at $25/hr, few would have any hope of buying "existing inventory"; it's barely enough to live on.
I can get $18 stocking shelves in my local grocery store, $20+ cruising around checking on oil sites, and $24-$27 driving armored cars; all with air conditioning. What should skilled electronics repair work bring in? My guess is $30/hr and up.
As for me, I'm aiming for a master's in chemistry and potentially immigration to Scandinavia. If I stay in the United States then my starting salary would be $55,000 - $65,000 for the Houston area, but I see little future in Texas with the open border, among other factors; the rest of the country is going over a cliff too.
-arc
i recently had a generator installed at my house. Three guys showed up to do it -- a master electrician ready to retire, a journeyman, and an apprentice. It was interesting to see them work. The old guy was clearly at the semi-retirement stage and mostly kibbitzed and helped the journeyman. They journeyman did most of the real work. The apprentice did some of the work but mostly did gofer stuff.
DeleteI talked to the apprentice a bit. He was apprenticed in a two-year program. He wasn't making much money right now, but he was living with his parents, There was a big jump when he passes some test a year from now, and he planned to move out on his own then. He expected to work for the company (a small family-owned group in a nearby town) for two years and then start his own company in another town nearby. He was 18 going on 19 and planned to be an independent business owner by the time he was 21.
And he would do well out here -- there is so much business for electricians that they are turning down work. I recently solicited for an estimate in laying a conduit for fiberoptic to my house, and I had to call four different companies before I could get one that could come out in the next four weeks.
Two things struck me. First, both the old guy and the middle-aged guy spend a fair amount of time teaching the young guy, even though the young guy mostly did gofer stuff. Second, the three of them started and ended their job with a prayer.
No need to worry about Boeing losing money on the deal. I am sure congress will pass a bill that will make sure Boeing is fully compensated for its mis-managed project.
ReplyDeleteI can operate a microwave oven, an automatic transmission and an I phone. I'm gonna make it.
ReplyDelete...Right?
A couple months ago I met a man with a busy auto shop on one side of his building and the most advanced paint shop I've ever seeen on the other side.
ReplyDeleteThe paint shop is closed. Try as he might he hasn't found one, let alone a full crew, who has the basic experience and wants to work. He'll train but still no takers. So the paint shop, with hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment, remains closed.
My cousin who has been in auto body and paint for decades, including running his own shop, for the past few years is a service rep for several suppliers. He's noticed his client business has markedly dropped off. The number one reason is shops are understaffed and are unable to fill positions. That translates to less sales volume. Even the well paying insurance jobs now take double the time to complete (same number of man hours but spread over larger number of days).
There are plenty of people who are willing to work; he simply hasn't found anyone that wants to work for him at the price he is offering. The people that used to work in these shops didn't vanish into nothing; rather they found easier work for the same pay or moved on to better paying jobs. Employers that act on this knowledge
Deleteby increasing pay and benefits don't have hiring, retention, or unionization issues. I've seen and heard it more times than I can remember but my guess is either the pay wasn't enough to live on or management mistreated the employees; it's often both.
People are simply revolting against poor work conditions and poverty wages. The currency is debased and the purchasing power of wages has completely decoupled from productivity. Why work making someone else rich when the wage they pay you isn't enough to live on?
This revolt isn't exclusive to the USA. China has gone from "lying low" to "let it rot" (bailan 摆烂). Why work when there is no future in it? Why waste your life working hard when hard work doesn't result in a better life? I have watched my dad work his whole life with little time for family, only to still be working post 60 with so little to show for it. I refuse that "life" and I'm unlikely to have kids. If my back up plan for a decent life fails then I too say let it rot. "No one wants to work anymore." really means "No one wants to be exploited anymore."
-arc
Are you telling me all those highly skilled Africans and Mexicans swarming into this country aren't up to the task?
ReplyDeleteDaryl
I'm sure that the "lazy b" certainly has no manpower problems because the canned employees for not having the jab. I'm sure that has nothing to do with it.
ReplyDelete