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The looming crisis in skilled labor | The WTS Podcast (With @TheHonestCarpenter )
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The looming crisis in skilled labor | The WTS Podcast (With @TheHonestCarpenter )
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I’m 29 and I’ve been painting houses for 10 years, I’ve own a business for 6, I can tell you were at ZERO shortage for work and ALL the shortage for help. I’ve hired people my age and it doesn’t work, I’ve hired people older and it works till they find something better. It’s hard to find good young people willing to work, I’ve met a few. Out of many
I already feel this crisis. I’m fairly skilled and can do a lot of work. My friends are starting to rely on me for doing installations around their homes or giving them advice on whether or not they need to fix something because skilled people aren’t easy to come by :/
Last Saturday I installed an induction stovetop at a friend‘s place and fixed the wiring a electrician made :/
I feel like due to the shortage in skilled people a lot of people with lackluster skills are working jobs they shouldn’t be doing resulting in lingering electrical fires :/ like at my friend‘s place and in mine the previous electrician fucked up the wiring for the stovetops resulting in molten cable clamps :/
Could not agree more. Simple DIYer now having to fix burst pipes etc
I hope you got at least some beer and pizza out of the deal! 😂
@Mr.PoopyDoobertPants 😂😂😂😂😂
100% fact.
I work in the trades. I had a similar conversation about labor shortage on the phone in a coffee shop. Two college girls over heard the conversation and giggled so I apologized afterwards and asked them a question…
I said “imagine a tall, dark, fit, handsome guy walks in and you know for a fact that he earns $120K a year… would you go on a date with him?” They said yes without hesitation. Then I said “I forgot to mention… he’s a plumber.” You should have seen the look of disgust on their faces. I asked again if they’d go on a first date – they both said “no way.”
When I asked why? One said “I could never date someone that wasn’t my equal” (she had a masters in women’s studies…) and the other said “I need to be proud of my man…”
and THAT is a huge reason why guys avoid the blue collar jobs like crazy… they know it’s taboo for the ladies.
The OTHER HUGE reason is because they figured out at 13 how to make $40K a year playing video games on Twitch… and they’d rather do that then make $100K working a tough job. Is what it is…
Lol we actually talked about this in this episode. Today, computer programmers and office workers are a dime a dozen and seen as boring. People who are able to build things and repair things are considered more interesting and attractive.
An unmarried girl who turns her nose up at a self-employed plumber is doing you a favor. She’s announcing in advance that she’s a terrible choice for a life partner. Marry the girl who’s loyal.
The trades are about to become super lucrative.
Absolutely. Unfortunately, homeowners are going to be on a 6 month waiting list to fix a leaky pipe because it won’t be worth it for plumbers to take on small jobs.
We are already in a crisis shortage for skilled trades workers. Try finding anyone to fix or build anything in your home, the waitlist is weeks, and sometimes months to get on someone’s list. I am 43yrs old now. When I was in high school during the late 90’s, there was a big push into the tech fields, and we are seeing the results of that shortage now.
I agree. We are obsessed with STEM education and are seeing the results.
@Steve Ramsey – Woodworking for Mere Mortals what is the possibility of this labor gap getting filled by robotics and AI. It seems like things like giant 3d printers would impact how houses get built. Also, I have to think that the combination of AI and robotics would provide technology that could do repairs, etc.
I know this is a ways off but the tech exists and the urgency may expedite the development of solutions. The cost is already rising so not sure that would be as big an impediment as it once was.
Personally, I hope we still have humans available to do the work, but something tells me tech will fill a large part of this gap.
@Rivermike We discussed ai in the podcast. It’s probably going to be a while before a robot will replace a guy crawling under a house to diagnose and shore up structural problems. Or even crawl through a crawlspace to repair a burst drain pipe. We need these people right now.
Our ISD has a specialized high school where one of the options was construction management. My daughter will be in the first graduating class for this. She has also be going out and advocating with her teachers to build interest in construction. I am thankful for this school but we see where the skilled labor isn’t getting the interest.
Whats the issue, is it that people can’t earn a living wage in the field?
Trades are earning very high wages and they are going up as demand increases. I believe the shortage is largely cultural. We have devalued blue collar work and are driving all kids into tech.
This doesn’t have to be bad news. Labor inflation is generally good for the people who do the work, since it means higher rates and more automation to make current workers more productive. The opposite extreme would be a glut of skilled workers competing with each other and driving down the value of individuals’ work.
It’s great for the skilled tradespeople who can demand huge salaries, but not good for the average homeowner who has a pipe burst and has to wait 6 months for a repair. These will be services reserved for the wealthy.
Totally agree with this. I feel like the trades were demonized by baby boomer parents in the 90s. Us older millenials in our early 40s are pretty established in tech. Younger people were sold an unrealistic vision of tech and are finding barriers/layoffs.
Ai will replace all those coders.😄
Could not agree more 👍
Mike Holmes and Mike Rowe have been saying this problem for at least 15 years now.
And still nothing is done. Until we reach a crisis point in the next few years when huge numbers of tradespeople retire and no one is replacing them.
We should ABSOLUTELY be terrified.
This is going to keep driving the cost of trade crafts up and up until that income is so high that it lures people back into the trades.
We discussed 7 high-paying trades available today that can’t find workers. In the very near future hiring a plumber or electrician will be something reserved for the wealthy.
I know for me, as a handy jack of all trades maker, the reason I won’t go into the trades is that I hate field work. I don’t want to deal with the public like that and do jobs in their home. I also don’t like being a one trick pony and framing houses super fast one after the other.
Yes, I would agree, learning a skilled trade is for specially motivated people.
It’s been like this for a while here in Norway, where major contractors or entrepreneurs have to look further and further away to hire skilled workers.