Shortage of Skilled Trade Workers

[Ducimus]

This day and age, with the ever increasing rise of education, and the new Student loan scam/bubble creating entire generations of indentured servants, a trade school is a VERY viable alternative to a college degree in my personal opinion. If I had a child old enough to be wondering about this kind of thing, I would push the idea of being diligent with their algebra, and get into HVAC.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

This day and age, with the ever increasing rise of education, and the new Student loan scam/bubble creating entire generations of indentured servants, a trade school is a VERY viable alternative to a college degree in my personal opinion. If I had a child old enough to be wondering about this kind of thing, I would push the idea of being diligent with their algebra, and get into HVAC.

As of late, specialty schools are cropping up. My daughter is interested in Vet Tech. There is a school in Pitt PA and York PA that specialize in that training. No really need to attend a 4 year college. However, she is going to the local community college starting this fall. Major in English. Work on the 2 year associates then make her decision on what to do next. Transfer and finish the 4 total years somewhere or attend a technical school in the field she is interested in.

[soopaman2]

I make 20$ plus an hour with no college education.


*rubs it in*


College or computers do not equal sucess.

Some of us sweat and exert ourselves for our money, which is where this country has failed.


The desk jockeys make way more than the sweat hogs in most cases..


Then again you have not destroyed the unions in Jersey yet, where a physical man could make a living.


For now.

[Platapus]

There used to be loyalty. Both on the part of the employer and the employee. We can play chicken-and-egg about which side broke the trust first.But who really cares? Regardless of the cause, it is a problem here that only seems to be getting worse.

Employees don't feel loyalty to a company which can dump them at a moment's notice. Companies don't feel loyalty to employees whom they feel are fungible resources.

In my job, I have to look at a lot of resumes. It is amazing how different people evaluate resumes.

Take a person who has been with the same company for 20 years and is looking to relocate.

To me, this is a good thing. It shows me that he sticks with a company for the long term. I admire that in an applicant

To others, in my company, they don't like this. It shows a lack of initiative and a desire for staying in a rut.

Now in some industries it is desirable to have a varied career and jumping jobs shows advancement and a desire for new experiences. In other industries (mine), flitting from job to job every two years is not a good indication.

I am lucky, I work for a company that recognizes loyalty....it does not always reward loyalty but that's for another rant.

But then in my company, if you have not been with the company for at least 20 years, you are still the new guy and your name is not even included in the "anniversary" section of the corporation newsletter. We have tons of people with the company for 30+ years and it starts getting noteworthy when you pass 45 years with the same company. Every month we have a few going over 40 years!

I have been with the company for just under 10 years and I am still one of the FNGs.

However, this does not sit well with our younger employees. We have lost a lot of good talent because they were of a mindset that they should only work for a company for 2-3 years and then move on. That may work for many industries but not mine.

[Wolferz]

Just out of curiosity, Platapus, what industry is that and how many lifers die at their post?

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

Just out of curiosity, Platapus, what industry is that and how many lifers die at their post?

I work for what is called an FFRDC (Federally Funded Research and Development Center), It is often, humorously and erroneously, called a "think tank" . It is one of many non-profit organizations that are funded by the government to handle such issues. By law we are severely restricted in what sorts of business we can and can't do on order to maintain our unbiased position in the industry.

We do operations and procurement research for the government. The reason longevity is so important is that much of our value to the government is based on our individual (and to some part corporate) reputation. The government is simply not going to base a policy or ops decision based on a report from someone without a proven track record. It is not fair or even logical, but it is how my world works.

Most of our work is in evaluating the work of government contractors. Contractor A is telling the government one thing, Contractor B is telling the government another thing. Government assigns us to evaluate and report back to the government.

Most of our people have Multiple Master's degrees or Doctorates as often we need to evaluate technical designs.

In some way, many of our employees die at their post. When you "retire" from my organization, most likely you will be put on a casual employment status. This is kinda like a ready reserve for researchers. When there is a particularly tricky problem, we have the ability to bring back some of these old timers who have the industry history (hell they made the history!) to assist on the problem. Then we kick them out!

It is a sweet deal and in about 30 years, I hope to be one!

[BrucePartington]

You guys have just described the story of my last 20 years in this neck-of-the-hood, after I completed my technical trade training in Automotive Technology, in Pitt, PA.
And I paid for tuition and all from my own sweat.
I simply should have not returned here. Proper recognition for my competence has almost always deliberately denied. I've even been tried to be made out to be incompetent.

I have more on my chest than you could possibly believe.

I may come back to this later. I have some things to take care right now.