This is something that's been roiling in my brain for a couple of years now ever since I contracted to build n addition to my house two years ago.
The company I contracted to do the work did good work but it was very slow. The two people he had working for my house had great overall skills from framing to finish work, but I would get frustrated because they'd get pulled off for other jobs.
I found out from the owner that the problem was that he tried to get more teams going but could only rely upon those two who were both hard-working and reliable. I found out the same thing from a friend who is a very successful owner of a construction company.
This man stated that he literally cannot find young men to come work for him. He wants to hire them but they are not interested.
Immigrants from South America know this and they are able to be paid $40-$50/hour in the greater Northern VA area because there is such a demand for people with good skills and a good work ethic. By mentioning area of origin I am not making a nationalistic judgment on this trend. They are incredibly reliable and hard-working people. I haven't seen that level of hustle and consistency in other work I've had contracted.
Fast forward to the other day. My pellet stove broke after 20 years and I needed a new one. I went into the showroom almost a month ago and couldn't get an appointment for someone to come check measurements until last week. They were booked through May because he has so much work. It was the owner of the company who came out. He's at least in his mid-60s and he's doing the work because, again, he cannot find anyone to work for him.
Parts of America are in a home residential "construction boom" both in the need for new houses and people improving on their homes as thousands have left urban areas. The cost of materials has not only doubled but they literally cannot get the lumber in many cases to finish projects. Manufacturers of hot tubs, for instance are 6 months behind demand.
The owner of this company said that some are making money by calling their old customers and buying their old hot tubs, refurbishing them, and selling them to new customers at original retail price.
I'm not sure what my overall point in this post is except that (in my region at least) there are jobs to be had in trades and it's almost impossible to find workers even as people are complaining about not having work. We've gone to such a knoweledge economy that I wonder what it's going to look like in a decade or two because so many of the general contractors and owners I meet are middle-aged. Who is going to actually build things in the future?
Maybe what I'm saying is that if you have a kid who's not really into the academic life that steering him into a vocation like carpentry, plumbing, electrician, HVAC, etc will be a very lucrative vocation. your mileage may vary based on where you live but if you're in an area where there are plenty of suburban homes then there will be plenty of work for people who do good work and can find hard-working people to work with them who are reliable.
The company I contracted to do the work did good work but it was very slow. The two people he had working for my house had great overall skills from framing to finish work, but I would get frustrated because they'd get pulled off for other jobs.
I found out from the owner that the problem was that he tried to get more teams going but could only rely upon those two who were both hard-working and reliable. I found out the same thing from a friend who is a very successful owner of a construction company.
This man stated that he literally cannot find young men to come work for him. He wants to hire them but they are not interested.
Immigrants from South America know this and they are able to be paid $40-$50/hour in the greater Northern VA area because there is such a demand for people with good skills and a good work ethic. By mentioning area of origin I am not making a nationalistic judgment on this trend. They are incredibly reliable and hard-working people. I haven't seen that level of hustle and consistency in other work I've had contracted.
Fast forward to the other day. My pellet stove broke after 20 years and I needed a new one. I went into the showroom almost a month ago and couldn't get an appointment for someone to come check measurements until last week. They were booked through May because he has so much work. It was the owner of the company who came out. He's at least in his mid-60s and he's doing the work because, again, he cannot find anyone to work for him.
Parts of America are in a home residential "construction boom" both in the need for new houses and people improving on their homes as thousands have left urban areas. The cost of materials has not only doubled but they literally cannot get the lumber in many cases to finish projects. Manufacturers of hot tubs, for instance are 6 months behind demand.
The owner of this company said that some are making money by calling their old customers and buying their old hot tubs, refurbishing them, and selling them to new customers at original retail price.
I'm not sure what my overall point in this post is except that (in my region at least) there are jobs to be had in trades and it's almost impossible to find workers even as people are complaining about not having work. We've gone to such a knoweledge economy that I wonder what it's going to look like in a decade or two because so many of the general contractors and owners I meet are middle-aged. Who is going to actually build things in the future?
Maybe what I'm saying is that if you have a kid who's not really into the academic life that steering him into a vocation like carpentry, plumbing, electrician, HVAC, etc will be a very lucrative vocation. your mileage may vary based on where you live but if you're in an area where there are plenty of suburban homes then there will be plenty of work for people who do good work and can find hard-working people to work with them who are reliable.