Posted on 08/19/2008 5:09:16 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Even as the economy slumps and unemployment rises, strong demand for power plants, oil refineries and export goods has many manufacturers and construction contractors scrambling to find enough skilled workers to plug current and future holes.
With the shortage of welders, pipe fitters and other high-demand workers likely to get worse as more of them reach retirement age, unions, construction contractors and other businesses are trying to figure out how to attract more young people to those fields.
Their challenge: overcoming the perception that blue-collar trades offer less status, money and chance for advancement than white-collar jobs, and that college is the best investment for everyone.
To highlight the benefits of a career in the skilled trades -- and, sometimes, the potential pitfalls of automatically opting for college -- unions and employers are turning to schools, the military, MySpace [...].
...
Companies and unions don't dispute that college can be a wise investment, but they also say some unionized craft workers can earn more than the average college graduate, without the burden of student debt.
"You earn while you learn," says Brian Couch, a young electrician, in a video posted on the Web sites YouTube and MySpace. "It's not like going to college where you go to school for five to eight years and have to work a part-time job."
...
[T]he energy industry is hard up for workers who, among other things, can make precision welds, fit pipes for pipelines and oil refineries, and understand the complex electrical wiring in modern power plants. Though the weak housing market has idled many workers who did similar jobs for home builders, their skills often aren't sharp enough to make the cut.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Good luck with that, the new iPod generation is way too into themselves to get their hands dirty with that kind of work.
I hate how all this talk of the “slumping economy” goes unchecked. First quarter ‘08 saw 0.9% growth, and Q2’08 saw 1.9%. Not great, but certainly no recession, and hardly slumping. Geez.
And yeah, there’s some damn good money to be made in skilled trades.
As a design Engineer, it doesn’t matter what I designand schedule, somebody still has to actually MAKE the damn thing.
Die men, Tool makers, and Millwrights are hard to fnd.
They all say, "You can work all the overtime you want". Big deal. I don't want to work sixty hours a week. They want you to work forced overtime, too.
They all bitch and moan that they don't have any skilled workers but they won't institute apprenticeship programs. They want fully trained workers right off the bat. That's not possible. It takes years to understand all the ways to troubleshoot, wire and analyze electrical systems.
We had some guys that just came out of the military. They are not so great. They are good workers but they can't think. They are so used to doing one small job that they can't think around a problem that involves many integrated systems.
The art of troubleshooting, using logic, can't be taught overnight. It takes a while and the person has to be able to think rationally. We all know that isn't taught in today's society.
And, all the while, we are busy importing plenty of unskilled workers from overseas.
Frankly, my take on employment is this: you are compensated roughly commensurate with the value that you create for your customer (or employer). If you can be highly productive and create high value by going to college, by all means, do it. If not, join a trade that allows you to do the same. Just keep learning and updating yourself so you stay ahead of the curve.
Carolyn
i WAS WORKING FOR A SERVICE COMPANY FOR THE POWER GENERATION FIELD
DISABLED NOW
HOPE TO RETURN TO SOMETHING, THERE IS MONEY TO BE MADE
caplock :)
If I wanted to join the IBEW in Chicago, I'd need to be the Mayor's cousin's son. It's ironic that the very people we need to be bringing into these skilled-trade jobs aren't brought in because they don't have connections.
One thing I've never understood (and I'm not blaming them) is the unions' reticence to bring people into apprenticeship programs.
Because it takes away the overtime for the rank and file and keeps the company dependent on them.
ditto here. I tire of the cube life and want to remodel houses full time.
CAD is something else I see a lot of openings in. The local tech. college offers plenty of it. Maybe take both? I have to get through this year first.
Society will always need good plumbers!
“The art of troubleshooting, using logic, can’t be taught overnight. It takes a while and the person has to be able to think rationally. We all know that isn’t taught in today’s society”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ain’t that the truth! If logical troubleshooting ability were common to most people we wouldn’t have the mess we have in Washington. The founding fathers had this kind of ability and they applied it to the creation of the constitution but we have, in our great wisdom, thrown their work away and gone with the absurd thinking of political correctness. What passes for thought these days makes me want to heave.
Not everyone should go to college, as many Freepers have said.”
I have said that for years.
The teachers union and the school boards are directly responsible for this problem. They have systematically dismantled the vocational classes in our schools. Now, the people who might be filling these jobs are convinced they should never get their hands dirty and are entitled to a 6 figure salary because they “went to college”.
It has been a terrible lie.
This is a great idea except for the fact that welding and pipefitting has long been difficult to get into. My inlaws are all pipefitters/welders and I know very well that you could not get into an apprentice program unless some relative in the trade and union brought you in. The building trades have been made unavailable or undesireable in recent years because of the high number of illegals contractors are hiring. I know young people who signed onto a number of jobs in order to get a start in a trade, only to be laid off a few weeks or months later. While they were filing out with their severance illegals speaking only spanish were filing in. In a number of cases they were told that their last assignments were to train the illegals who were taking their place. Clean up the crap, get the word out that these fields are open again and you might see more people applying.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.