A welder works at a new condo building under construction in downtown Vancouver, in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward
Posted on 11/06/2025 9:34:26 PM PST by SeekAndFind
At over 7 percent, the unemployment rate in Canada is the highest it has been in a decade. For those under 25, it surpasses 14 percent. This is a real challenge for young people at the beginning of their working lives. The usual rules for getting started on a promising career no longer seem to apply.
A welder works at a new condo building under construction in downtown Vancouver, in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward
A university degree does not open doors the way it used to. There are many more university graduates than there are openings that require this qualification, and this does not even consider the mismatch that exists between the fields of the vacant positions and those of the graduates.
The government has reacted to this sad situation by severely curtailing the number of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) allowed into Canada, presumably to save jobs for unemployed Canadians. It may not work. TFWs have been brought into Canada to fill jobs that, even in times of high unemployment, Canadians would not fill.
Agricultural workers are an example. Youth (and older workers) are reluctant to take seasonal jobs that require long hours of demanding physical labour outdoors for the rates of pay that our food-producing sector can afford.
TFWs also play a big role in entry-level service jobs, another area that is hard to fill with Canadians, especially if they have a university degree. Finding Canadians for these jobs is particularly acute in smaller centres and more remote locations.
Not only are the jobs left unfilled by reducing TFWs unattractive to most Canadians, but many of the more attractive jobs are now, or soon will be, replaced by AI. Older workers will recall how swathes of lower-level white-collar jobs, such as secretaries and clerks, were eliminated by the introduction of computers.
Now the work of higher-level positions can be done by AI. This includes junior executives, many mid-level management positions, and any position that has the word agent or broker in the title—areas where many aspiring leaders got their start. Now it is even harder to find any openings.
There are still good jobs in desirable locations that pay well, where vacancies tend to exceed job seekers and which will be difficult or impossible for AI to replace. Most Canadians do not even consider these opportunities or are barely aware of them.
The people needed now and into the future are trades workers, technicians, and technologists. Also needed are people who can provide a level of human contact that machines cannot offer in medicine and other areas.
Use the phrase “hands-on” to determine which occupations are safe from an AI takeover. AI cannot fix a leaky pipe or wire a new building. It cannot deliver a baby.
Nor can AI create and maintain the physical underpinnings of our 21st-century world. For this, technicians and technologists are required. Right now, there are openings for technicians and technologists in engineering at all levels and also in design, maintenance, inspection, project management, and other fields.
Such in-demand occupations are regulated in B.C. by the Association of Technicians and Technologists of B.C. Current job openings are listed here. Institutes of technology and many universities and colleges offer the training that would lead to positions like these. Most courses take two years, less than a university degree. Many technician and technology positions offer upward mobility into areas like management or professional engineering.
For those who prefer to deal with people, we will still need doctors, nurses, and other health professionals even as AI takes over the more tedious administrative aspects of that work. Counsellors and advisors will still be needed, but they will need to have both excellent people skills and detailed expertise in fields like financial planning, employment, and others. The more routine support and advice can and will be provided by AI.
Even in hands-on occupations, practitioners will still have to keep up to date with AI and other developing systems. These current and future developments will be like the telephone—useful and necessary in whatever we do. But they will also free us from the tedious administrative requirements that until now were part of just about every job.
We now find ourselves in an uncertain economy with high and rising unemployment. What used to be good ways to find a job or establish a career are no longer working, and AI-related elimination looms over many positions. But there are still many hands-on occupations that AI cannot fill and that offer good jobs now and excellent career prospects to those willing to consider them.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.
Gump,
lol, any moron with a rubber mallet, an air compressor, nail gun and a mitre saw can install a wood floor. Just be prepared for the mental numbness that sets in early.
While I didn’t learn programming, I did set up and operate a CNC OD grinder for about 7 years. They are marvelous machines. I could make changes on program lines concerning speeds and feeds. At first it was scary- push a button and watch it go through the motions, but as my confidence and knowledge grew, I really began to enjoy it.
Maybe, I guess we will never know. I do know that welders didnt make very much 70s-90s unless maybe if you had your own shop and found some good custom contracts. The guys working fabrication in the big factories didnt make much at all.
(GEN Zer whining) “But then I’ll have to get my hands dirty, and sweat, and be too tired to go out at night...”
Indeed. But $250 / hour for trades work?! In North Idaho!! I didn’t pay my lawyer that until not long ago.
I’ve repaired our washer, dryer, and stove. Gosh, I’ve fixed toilets and even replaced them. All the faucets and drains in the house are new, I did that. I have installed new wiring myself (but get it inspected). All it takes is hand tools and eyeballs. Sometimes you have to make or purchase special tools. I’m an embedded software engineer with a gorgeous machine shop and wood shop. Its all easy and grime washes off pretty quickly.
I wont bore you with details but for those that think your statement is hyperbole, I offer this bit.
Recently I was walking through the woods with a couple of other men. The young supposedly staight end Millennial/elder Z starts complaining about every little thing. The bugs and branches were colluding to just make his time in the woods unbearable.
He stopped and asked where he was supposed to urinate. I told him trees love that sort of thing. He began yelling about he couldnt believe that I was expecting him to “pee in the open like an animal” then he turned around and went back to sit in the truck.
...and the sore knees. Me heap big. Me push hard on knees. ;-D
I’m a mechanical engineer and have done all that, too. I building, install, and repair most of our stuff.
We got exasperated not finding a model number / serial number tag on the unit! We didn’t call the manufacturer (which, in retrospect, we should have) and went through all that aggravation just to find the hidden model number. WHOEVER would have dreamed the paper stick-on tag (not a metal name plate!) would be on the BOTTOM of the decorative chrome frame around the microwave oven?! My wife and I had looked high and low for the model number tag and could not find it anywhere. It was the most bizarre thing. You cannot start any repair without a model number.
I discovered that I can actually see a mirror image of the model number paper tag in the shiny reflective bottom of the stainless steel warming drawer! How’s that for making it hard for the consumer to find the most basic information?
Yeah, finding the model number is often a Quest for the Grail. Why?
This is the first time e in my 47 years of home ownership a tag has been hidden away like that. “Why?” indeed. What idiot at Thermadore would think “I know! Let’s put the model on a paper sticker on the BOTTOM of the decorative frame where they will never find it.!”
It reminds me of the Amazon delivery drivers who block the door with the package. Zombies are everywhere.
Mom and Dad didn’t want a union to come in. It would’ve hurt their business immensely.
I think that today, welders probably make more money than back then (they sold their business in 1974). I only know what I see, I have no actual knowledge of what the industry pays now, but I do know that welders are in high demand. Oil pipelines- have you seen any of the work going on at Musk’s Starbase? The amount of welding going on there is amazing. The Starships themselves have an enormous amount of welding in their construction. The launch towers- I watched tower 2 being put together last summer and was surprised to see welders all over that structure.
I think Dad would be proud to see it.
I don’t know if unions are involved, but I’m sure those people are making good money.
I've only seen metal name plates.
RE: “ But then I’ll have to get my hands dirty, and sweat, and be too tired to go out at night”
Total stereotype. I see a lot of blue collar workers enjoying themselves at the beer joints all the time.
Im not surprised, the unions were/are a big problem everywhere they show up regardless of which industry.
Yes, they are definitely making good money now. Certainly comfortable. 2000-ish when the Silent Generation were retiring, all of a sudden there werent enough welders. There is a place in a town near me that has been paying good wages and has had all kinds of advertising to bring in employees but they can never find enough. They could have probably hired a bunch of local kids (they never leave home town) back 15 years ago sent them to school and had them work until they paid back school and would have 4 full shifts pumping out profit now if they wanted.
Right now my youngest is a welding nursing assistant taxidermist. Maybe she is planning on mounting geriatric robots when its their time to be put away, Im not sure.
Those are two more things that all of a sudden can make some decent money, certainly livable. Nursing Assistant pay has more than doubles in the last couple of years and the taxidermist she is training with has a real nice house and brags that he makes enough for two families.
All three of those jobs are ones that I was always told to stay away from and would have told others to stay away from in the past. Not particularly good advice any more.
“This article is wrong on a dozen fronts.”
I don’t necessarily disagree, but name a few.
1. Africa is not a fruit.
2. You cannot fit body armor on a poltergeist.
3. “Several” is not a fraction.
Hi ...in 1970, “data processing” was part of my “material facilities spec, USAF”, getting schooled on the Univac 1050+ii information processing unit 10 inch reels.
We had to learn to read the key punched card.
Later, cross trained to aircraft radar. “Those F4’s were my “x-wings”.
I wish you well.
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