Who comes up with these crazy theories?

[Twodogs]

I know the contractors in my trade look very hard at any man who has been out of work for an extended period (6 months or longer I'd say). In the trades, it would seem that these guys have issues, whether it be aptitude or something as simple as a bad attitude. In other words, if you're worth your sand, someone would have picked you up by 6 months. Even at full employment and with travelers working, my hall will have at least six to a dozen guys on the bench that just are not hire-able due to bad reputations. These guys usually fade away to non union shops and eventually end up in the residential service market.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Twodogs

I know the contractors in my trade look very hard at any man who has been out of work for an extended period (6 months or longer I'd say). In the trades, it would seem that these guys have issues, whether it be aptitude or something as simple as a bad attitude. In other words, if you're worth your sand, someone would have picked you up by 6 months. Even at full employment and with travelers working, my hall will have at least six to a dozen guys on the bench that just are not hire-able due to bad reputations. These guys usually fade away to non union shops and eventually end up in the residential service market.

Just common sense to me. Especially in construction.

The whole point of construction is to work yourself out of a job.

And the better you are at it, the quicker you work yourself out of a job.

Chas

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by Twodogs

I know the contractors in my trade look very hard at any man who has been out of work for an extended period (6 months or longer I'd say). In the trades, it would seem that these guys have issues, whether it be aptitude or something as simple as a bad attitude. In other words, if you're worth your sand, someone would have picked you up by 6 months. Even at full employment and with travelers working, my hall will have at least six to a dozen guys on the bench that just are not hire-able due to bad reputations. These guys usually fade away to non union shops and eventually end up in the residential service market.

I think that is more the case in the trades than in other segments of the economy. It is the nature of the work that many tradesmen move among several employers. I know of some guys who have a pretty steady rotation of 3 or 4 employers they shift between, depending on who has the work. I spent several years defending a union against claims from a group for people who blamed the union because the employers weren't hiring them.

It's a different situation in manufacturing jobs or office jobs. The specialized skills and experience from one job don't always transfer as well to other positions, or the supply of individuals who have developed the general skills is much larger than the number of positions.

Regards,

D-Ray

[wgrr]

Originally Posted by d-ray657

I think that is more the case in the trades than in other segments of the economy. It is the nature of the work that many tradesmen move among several employers. I know of some guys who have a pretty steady rotation of 3 or 4 employers they shift between, depending on who has the work. I spent several years defending a union against claims from a group for people who blamed the union because the employers weren't hiring them.

It's a different situation in manufacturing jobs or office jobs. The specialized skills and experience from one job don't always transfer as well to other positions, or the supply of individuals who have developed the general skills is much larger than the number of positions.

Regards,

D-Ray

You hit the nail on the head. Skilled technical labor pays well since the supply of workers is much lower than the demand for filling jobs.

I cringe when I hear of a family trying to make it on a combined family income of 1/3rd of what I make a year because daddy/mommy lost their job at Whirlpool when they outsourced to Mexico and lower waged areas of the US.