How do we addess the shortage of Skilled Laborers in this country?
- Thread starter Matt Laurer
- Start date
Not for what I’ve got planned. The lots on Wrightsville are very attractive to me because they touch both Wrightsville and Park Ave. Very aggreable to development if I can get a couple
There are a lot of halfway houses in that area. I would consider bulldozing the houses if you do buy one.
Yeah, I’d be knocking them down abandoned building 4/5 smaller 2 bed/2 bath houses. Create a little community and target grad students and hospital employees.
PM me when you see property. I know a good realtor who has working relationships with just about all of the real etate companies in the area.
Thanks but I’ve already got a guy. I’ll let you buy me a beer though
I wish I had taken the vocational school classes in high school. They always sent the "troubled" kids to those classes so it was never presented as an option. Instead, here I am 15 years later self learning some of the stuff I would have learned.
In hindsight I would have traded some of those AP classes for a few V-school classes.
In hindsight I would have traded some of those AP classes for a few V-school classes.
Much easier said than done. Stick around and pay your dues for twenty years. There are much easier ways to get money and that's why you have this dilemma.
20years? Lol. Try a few. Guys can apprentice for 5-7 years, earn decent coin, and venture out on their own.
You are actually backing up his claim. The mentality you are preaching is not consistent with reality.
Younger people don't want to do those jobs because they have a lower max earning potential and take a physical toll on the body and present risk of being able to perform the career over the long term.
This isn't the old days where one graduated high school, got a union gig for 9-5 and had a decent life before retiring on a pension.
This isn't the old days where one graduated high school, got a union gig for 9-5 and had a decent life before retiring on a pension.
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Why would anyone work 5-7 years slaving for construction jobs when they can get more money just about anywhere and have a chance to move up the ladder? Sure you can venture out on your own but that is not a guaranteed thing that it will work.
It was mentally draining working for my bosses son making twice what we were making and doing half of the work. They drive around in fifty thousand dollar trucks and live in half a million dollar homes and but can't come off a couple of dollars an hour to help a brother out. People just don't want to work for people like that.
Get a job in software dev or computer science. It is not just the guys from Revenge of the Nerds anymore. Some jobs need formal education, some don’t. All require a little effort and perseverance in learning though. The pay is far too high for what we do.
Somewhere around a million jobs are open between software dev (includes “designers”, PMs, etc) and computer programming RIGHT NOW.
https://qz.com/929275/you-probably-should-have-majored-in-computer-science/amp/
Somewhere around a million jobs are open between software dev (includes “designers”, PMs, etc) and computer programming RIGHT NOW.
https://qz.com/929275/you-probably-should-have-majored-in-computer-science/amp/
Must be ******ed because I couldn't stomach any of that. I prefer being a chicken farmer and working for myself much better. Sell three dozen eggs or slave for some rich kid for an hour?
This is extremely vague. Give some point of reference for what "slaving" is? What job are you getting out of college where you get an advanced position without putting in time for lower pay? Also who is this rich kid you keep mentioning?
The rich kid was the bosses druggy son who graduated a year after me. He was addicted to pills and he has been caught installing windows upside down on several occasions in the past. Not much of a leader but that was the job his daddy gave him.
Jobs out of college generally come with chances of advancement and pay increases.
So you apply your only experience and assume it is true for an entire industry?
I build in Arizona, this is a real problem. Sorry - when its 110 and we are throwing up homes, its a rare day when a caucasian shows up to do a good job as a subcontractor on our jobsites. Illegals doing jobs that others dont want to do is 100% accurate...stucco, drywall, insulation, roofing, framing, you name it. When these guys go to "work", they go to freaking work. And an entire two generations have been taught to be business owners, go to college, and not do that. Others think theyre above that or are lazy. Its the truth. I came back after a corporate finance job to do this with my father...and to be honest, Im only 38 and have a great opportunity, because there are very little people my age in the industry. Yes, these guys dont get paid much, and get little in the way of benefits...but as a small business owner, we dont either. We try and take care of our guys, many whom have been with my dad for 20 years...because youre only as good as they are. We get squeezed by bigger contractors building homes for nothing, we get squeezed by mortgage companies not appraising homes at what they are worth anymore, we get squeezed by new clients both before a job for a few bucks to do it cheaper, then after for extras, and we get squeezed by the industry as a whole for things like OSB now being $20 a sheet and concrete $20 more a yard...we should get paid way more than we do. Then all the benefits of higher pay and that would come with it. But a freaking 30 year old couple making $100k a year cant even buy their first home anymore here, as they get bidding wars with investors and other cash buyers screwing them over. I could go on and on about this for days.
Regardless - the answers are things like free trade schools such as what has been done in Tennessee...glamorizing the building industry a bit more - make America the place where we build things again, thats a great thing to do again, and take away the stigma that you need to go to school to be successful...and stop glamorizing some tech or pro sports gig that about .00001% of people here ever would have a chance at...make people proud of a project from start to finish and an end goal that produces a product. Lastly, dont do stupid things like have lumber tariffs in the middle of a freaking building boom, and round up all of our employees, most of whom have families, go to church and work awfully hard.
Regardless - the answers are things like free trade schools such as what has been done in Tennessee...glamorizing the building industry a bit more - make America the place where we build things again, thats a great thing to do again, and take away the stigma that you need to go to school to be successful...and stop glamorizing some tech or pro sports gig that about .00001% of people here ever would have a chance at...make people proud of a project from start to finish and an end goal that produces a product. Lastly, dont do stupid things like have lumber tariffs in the middle of a freaking building boom, and round up all of our employees, most of whom have families, go to church and work awfully hard.
Illegals? So if they are here legally, they don't do those jobs? And you are wrong about that being 100% accurate. It's partially accurate. But there is a lot more to it than immigrants doing jobs Americans don't want to do.
Please explain. I live in Phoenix, we have built in Phoenix for 40 years. Please explain to me the world that I live in. Id love to hear it.
You are confusing working for a sh!tty company , which happens and was your choice. With saying trade labor or construction industry isn't viable for young people.
Not trying to explain your world, buddy. I am not saying that you are wrong in everything you said. I am saying that you are wrong about it being 100% accurate. I will just repost my earlier post.
I make HR software built around this problem. It isn't unique to the construction industry. It is a problem for nearly all hourly wage jobs.
Ok, fair points. Completely agree that it comes down to money...which in this business is ALL it comes down to. And its unfortunate. We spend more money on quality...because we dont market, and its all word of mouth. And we take care of warranty issues for the same reasons. Lots of guys dont. But if you re-read my previous note about getting squeezed on all sides, thats why. So Im with ya.
Just one more last FYI for you - most of us either after college or in spite of college had nasty jobs at a young age. Awful circumstances. Horrible pay. Bad bosses. You name it. But they were learning experiences. And I learned a whole hell of a lot. And Im only 38.
So sometimes, you dont graduate or turn 25 or 30 and get a phenomenal job with no boss, a 10% company 401k match and healthcare with no employee cost. Its rare anymore. Thats a systemic problem. But younger people thinking theyre entitled and dont have to work their way up is also a problem.
No surprise this nonsense was poasted by a Moo fan who blames all of Moo's losing (and there is a TON of losing) on Carolina.
I'm not trying to poop on your big construction party but I've had similar things happen for other companies too. I've got a friend who has been in construction since high school and has done real well for himself. But his grandfather was a well known foreman for a long time too. He's got ties that help that most people don't have.
None of your points have a point. They are you just complaining about one bad employment situation.
Spoiler alert
The old adage ‘it’s not what you know, but who you know’ applies to pretty much all industries. I did restaurant work from 15-24, it happened there. I went into banking at one of the largest banks in the country, it happened there. It happens everywhere. Getting the job is no guarantee of advancement. Hard work, persistence, and luck is your best path and even the it doesn’t work out.
The shit jobs I had in high school and college helped fuel my desire to get an MBA from a top B school and the hardest professional designation in my industry. I didn't want to be an adult working those shit jobs.
