Trouble in River City

Banks and student loans can’t be sustainable I’m guessing.

As a crew leader for ACE I manage kids from the ages of 18 up to 30 and they all say that they can’t get jobs with their bachelors degrees. Most of them come from fairly Cush lives of privilege so I imagine a lot of them don’t have student loan debt but there’s plenty that do.

Here around flagstaff developers are going nuts building luxury student housing. It’s like a big boom right now. I wonder for how long can it really last?

I’m seeing commercials all over the place for IBEW trying to recruit young adults to learn the trade as there is a big shortage of electricians.  I know a friend of the family that recently went that route to become an apprentice electrician after graduating college with a degree that doesn’t lead to a good paying job.  Could have saved his parents a lot of $ just going that route right after high school.  Same goes for welders, machine tool operators etc.  these are skilled trades that more kids should be looking at instead of college.

I’ve been trying to get an electrician come do a couple jobs at my house that I’d prefer to not do myself for months.

Agreed, society did a fairly good job demonizing trade professions in the 1990's and 00's that there is a true generational gap that has formed.

evantful wrote

Agreed, society did a fairly good job demonizing trade professions in the 1990's and 00's that there is a true generational gap that has formed.

I do not think the trades are demonized. There are serious downsides to the trades. People who work in the trades know the limits.

There are multiple tradesman in my neighborhood. They are living nice lifestyles but none of them want their kids to enter the trades. Most of them are dealing with multiple physical ailments that started in their late 30s and early 40s. They are all nervous about their future working lives in their 50s. Running a small business is difficult. They all spend a lot of time trying to collect on their billing. Many of them pay a fortune for health insurance. It is not all roses.

I think one of the biggest problem for getting students into the trades was moving all shop classes out of the local high schools. Here in NJ, it seems the trade classes are now in 1 central votech high school in each county. It is hard to commit to a votech full time if you are not sure about that path.

$20/hour is like $40K per year.  Maybe in CNY you could get by on that, but you're still living paycheck to paycheck. No surprise you can't find help

Try paying people $70K a year and advertising that salary and you'll find what you're looking for.  

I actually agree with PeeTex, loose immigration policy, both legal and illegal has been feeding corporate America with cheap labor for too long.   When employers start paying a living wage Americans will work.

I work in tech and see first hand how companies would rather import an indentured servitude h1b then train an American.  90% of tech jobs are not rocket science or building self driving cars, it's just using open source tech which I believe can be taught to green candidates

TheGreatAbyss wrote

$20/hour is like $40K per year.  Maybe in CNY you could get by on that, but you're still living paycheck to paycheck. No surprise you can't find help

Try paying people $70K a year and advertising that salary and you'll find what you're looking for.  

I actually agree with PeeTex, loose immigration policy, both legal and illegal has been feeding corporate America with cheap labor for too long.   When employers start paying a living wage Americans will work.

I work in tech and see first hand how companies would rather import an indentured servitude h1b then train an American.  90% of tech jobs are not rocket science or building self driving cars, it's just using open source tech which I believe can be taught to green candidates

@ The Great Abyss +1

IBEW can be a great career choice. I am closing in on 30 years in it.I served a 5 year apprenticeship which then quickly allowed me to get an associate degree  with just a few night classes.
   The trade in not for the soft ,many people sign up and there gone when seeing what the trade asks of  your mind and body.
  Middle of my sons started with our Enployer while still in Highschool and already into his third year. He just bought his own house at age 20.
  Knowing a trade came bring money. Just finished a big garage on nights and weekends. Profits were enough for 4 brand new tires on ski car and two Orda passes.

imagine if restaurants had to pay cooks 70k/year.. I guess they would have to pay me 250k to run the show..
are you willing to pay 40 for a burger or  50$ for a pepperoni pizza?

JasonWx wrote

imagine if restaurants had to pay cooks 70k/year.. I guess they would have to pay me 250k to run the show..
are you willing to pay 40 for a burger or  50$ for a pepperoni pizza?

And therein lies the problem. You feel entitled to make 3 to 4 times what your workers make.

In many of the companies I work with the really valuable skilled workers make more than their managers.

You might be right on this one...

that said the plate cost would still  go up 3X

JasonWx wrote

.....that said the plate cost would still  go up 3X

A 50% increase in labor costs, which are just one component of total operating costs, are going to increase menu prices 200%?  On the surface that seems a bit high.....as some of that increase would have to come out of margin, or through cost cutting elsewhere.  People won’t pay 3x, they’d just stay home.

How big is the endowment at that school?

JTG4eva! wrote

JasonWx wrote

.....that said the plate cost would still  go up 3X

A 50% increase in labor costs, which are just one component of total operating costs, are going to increase menu prices 200%?  On the surface that seems a bit high.....as some of that increase would have to come out of margin, or through cost cutting elsewhere.  People won’t pay 3x, they’d just stay home.

JTG  i'm sure 3x was a bit over the top..but restaurants operate on a very thin margin. rule of thumb is 3x the plate cost, to cover all your expenses and realize a profit .. there are of course exceptions..


I work for a contract caterer. we don't operate like a restaurant...that said the school has major financial problems..

  just saw this add if it was long term maybe I would come up