Didn’t want to piggyback on the current custom home thread and the discussion has taken a turn toward the lack of skilled labor. So here’s some thoughts from a 30+ year tradesman …
1) Trades have been marginalized here in the US for longer than many think. I graduated from a public HS in 1982. This particular school (again, not a vo-tech but a normal HS) was very unique in that it had 2 complete woodworking shops, a print shop, a metalworking shop, a 3 bay auto shop, an electric shop and a horticulture area. Back then in spite of all of that, the shops were where the discipline problems and academic non achievers were routinely dumped by the administrators because they didn’t want to deal with them. Everyone loves having access to skilled labor but ew, I don’t want any parts of that …
2) For the longest time, there was not a “skills shortage”, it was a wage shortage. Management vehemently denies that to this day but that’s how it was from our perspective. They have loosened up the purse strings somewhat but for the most part it’s been too little too late.
3) Many trade based businesses still run on outdated principles and ideas about how things get done. Before things got bad for employers, many clung to the old “Don’t like it ? I got 5 guys waitin’ that’ll be glad to have your job” mentality. No respect for the workforce, rule by fear and intimidation. Our response in large was to steer our kids away from the same path we took. Now it’s come to a head and the employers are scrambling. They’re the victims of their own short sightedness. In my industry overall, the shops are for the most part outdated, cold, dark and filthy. Yeah, it’s a dirty job by nature but there’s still the mentality of “That’s how it’s always been so why change things now?” … You’re not gonna catch too many flies with that vinegar. Any kid smart enough to understand today’s hardware AND the complex electronics that control it all is not gonna work in some shitty cave. He’ll go work in a comfortable environment for more money and better advancement opportunities.
4) The ridiculousness of the phrase “Go learn a trade” … a personal favorite of mine. It’s a frequently thrown around hollow blanket statement that implies that any aimless half wit that can’t cut it anywhere else would be well served if only they went and “learned a trade” … The skilled trades don’t need nor have time for anyone like that. We’re all born hardwired for success in different disciplines - mechanically inclined, artistically, etc. Just as not everyone is Harvard Law stock, that doesn’t mean the remainder should have tools in their hands either.
5) I grew up in an environment where tools were common. That coupled with my natural pre disposition for wanting to know how stuff worked led me to where I am now. But how many people grew up in a “call the guy” when something broke house ? Not that there’s anything wrong with that but the concept of fixing things or building them from scratch is a foreign to the vast majority of people these days.
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Originally Posted by Bassin_7
