matt rowes speach in front of congress about skilled trades

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7707

New member
Mike Rowe speaks from the heart in this clip and has seen what happening to the trades in this country first hand.
I wish we could see the response from congress on his thoughts.
Look whats happening out west, they just can't find enough tradesmen(and Women) to do the work.
I'am a jack of all trades,master of none, but atleast i can take care of my own stuff.
 
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ezra

Well-known member
high school guidance counselors giving career advice is a joke.
funny story my high school guidance counselor told me in 1986 that it was silly of me to want to pursue a carrer in computers. they were never going to be more than a toy.
I did get a job with NCR just out of high school after 3 yrs was making 25hr.
got laid off best paying job I could find was with the new lotto just starting in MN 7.75hr.
I was making more working pt for my land lord so I started doing that ft after a yr or so.
the reason I kept going back to that guidance counselor telling my there was no future in computers.
well I have buds who worked with me at NCR and the lotto who are pulling mid 6figures now days and I was training them as bench techs back in the day.
always trust your gut and never listen to some person who took the ez secure job instead of making there own path.
I have no regrets like what I do and make a good living doing it but there is a lesson in there some place
 
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bumperboy

New member
I have said this before, thanks to Mike Rowe maybe people will start to listen. I am a manufacturer, two of my three brothers, and my father, (now retired) are in construction. I have seen for many years that manufacturing leads this country. When manufacturing starts to get busy and do well, construction, and all supporting trades follow. This has happened time and time again, ever since I was old enough to remember. When our dear Mr Clinton signed the NAFTA program, that was the downfall of our great country. He asked "Why does anyone want to work in a dirty factory" ? I am sorry but you are dead wrong, a service economy does not work ! Millions of manufacturing jobs went over seas and to mexico, therefore many people lost their jobs and housing began its downfall. What did they think was going to happen ? Why does Congress not see this ? Or do they choose to look the other way! Now the problem we will face is that for 15 to 20 years we have not been training young people in metal working, and manufacturing, and all the skilled people now are retiring or have gotten out of it long ago. There is a huge shortage of skilled workers now. I am telling you bring manufacturing back and watch our economy turn around . All you young peolpe out there, get into CNC machining, because manufacturing in general is at the bottom, and the only way from there is UP !
 
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Hoosier

Well-known member
I can't listen to the clip right now and I'm not sure if NAFTA has had as much of an impact as is often alleged - both good and bad (just my opinion), but I think the notion that everyone should go to college and that all degrees are worth pursuing needs to be rethought. The fact that it is accepted or even encouraged for a 18 year old high school grad to go to college and take out student loans without a career in mind is a terrible idea. It is often justified that becoming college educated makes one well-rounded, but I think so does learning how to wire a house or overhaul a transmission. Don't get me wrong, college can be a great investment, and if often takes a variety of classes to figure out what you want to do, but one should not take on tons of debt in the process. It would be far better for someone to get trained in a trade, if that is where someone's skill set and potential lies.

This is must my opinion and I have two degrees and some student debt, and I have benefited from my education. Just seen so many that have not and are paying a very high price.
 
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dcsnomo

Moderator
Interesting video. To some degree, it evokes nostalgia, which while making us feel all warm and fuzzy about days gone by nostalgia rarely provides an answer. As an example, I wish I had a car just like my '69 SS350 Nova, but if Chevy made one I could not afford the gas, it would not make me 70 lbs lighter with bushy auburn hair, and my wife would not be an innocent 16 year old cheerleader sitting next to the Hurst shifter. You can't go back.

But I find it interesting when he cites the issue of not being able to find tradespeople to fill open jobs. Why hasn't the marketplace solved the problem? This has nothing to do with Congress, as they would just screw it up, but if I am an unemployed 20 something and there are jobs welding why am I not a welder? As we continue to bring home our war vets they come home to no jobs...why are they not plumbers and carpenters if the jobs are open?

There is something wrong with the market. Even if guidance counselors push people in a direction of college, doesn't' the desire to feed and house oneself push you to what the market is hiring? We have 12 million unemployed people, many of them "blue collar" from the loss of 8 million manufacturing jobs. Why do we have a skills gap?

I don't get it
 
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deerhunter

New member
dcsnomo said:
Interesting video. To some degree, it evokes nostalgia, which while making us feel all warm and fuzzy about days gone by nostalgia rarely provides an answer. As an example, I wish I had a car just like my '69 SS350 Nova, but if Chevy made one I could not afford the gas, it would not make me 70 lbs lighter with bushy auburn hair, and my wife would not be an innocent 16 year old cheerleader sitting next to the Hurst shifter. You can't go back.

But I find it interesting when he cites the issue of not being able to find tradespeople to fill open jobs. Why hasn't the marketplace solved the problem? This has nothing to do with Congress, as they would just screw it up, but if I am an unemployed 20 something and there are jobs welding why am I not a welder? As we continue to bring home our war vets they come home to no jobs...why are they not plumbers and carpenters if the jobs are open?

There is something wrong with the market. Even if guidance counselors push people in a direction of college, doesn't' the desire to feed and house oneself push you to what the market is hiring? We have 12 million unemployed people, many of them "blue collar" from the loss of 8 million manufacturing jobs. Why do we have a skills gap?

I don't get it
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hey i get what you mean. problem is these jobs start at 10-12 an hour and thats not enough for peoplle anymore cuz they can make just as much on unemployment. do a apprenticship for 5 years and start at 10-12 an hour and get your license to make 25+ an hour 5 years later. but these are jobs were you have to work your *** and get dirty, sweaty and be tired at the end of the day jobs. there isnt anymore ambition from high school kids to have what takes to be successful in the trades.

i encourage everyone to do building trade apprentiships. you get paid to go to school and get trained on the job. im almost done with my appretiship and wouldnt trade it it for nothing. you have a few slow months here and there and you also have months were its mandatory overtime. either its union or non union.

i think if the unemployment pay out went up ther would be a higher unempoyment rate. if they dropped it and it would make people go back to work.
 
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polarisrider1

New member
The video game crowd (our youths) are to lazy. They grew up when times were good and got it all handed to them. They do not want to work for the most part. Now there are exceptions, I have hired some off them. Another problem in my trade as in many is that we train these "kids" who are willing to work and then they decide to go on there own and compete against you. So in order to make the "Big dollar" people tell me I make, then I need to make sure that the young pups with no overhead and live with momma are at a disadvantage when bidding against me. All I can offer is experience. Actually I make more money cleaning up their messes than we do if we get the job by low bidding. People feel like fools that they went low bid and got a crap job, so they open up their wallets when I show up to get tear out the mess that Mr. low bid has done and can charge premium for the reinstall. I get calls daily on brand new leaking showers. Cha ching! So dcsnomo that is why many of the trades do not remedy the issue. Another example: A very large commercial tile co. in my area had 70 employees all who set tile. The Dad (owner) retires, nobody likes the Son who takes over. 50 of them quit. 20 went on unemployment and 30 went our bidding what ever they could without a clue what to charge. Now we have a large group bottom feeding for servival who have no formal education on running a sucessful contracting business. This hurt that company of 70 (used to be's) extremely along with the rest of us. Prices went down, quality went down. Customer complaints went way up and the industry got a black eye from it. So we "Tradesmen" have to protect our trades and our image in the customers eye in order to be able to charge a decent amount to make a good living. We all ready have migrants painting and doing drywall dirt cheap. I asked them why you doing drywall? answer pays better than picking apples and it is warm inside this house. Guess my best answer to the problem is it is complicated. I got snow and a new sled so I am outta here.
 
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elf

Well-known member
We have hit a growth spurt this last year and had to hire about 30 people. Primarily we look for welders/fabricators and people with hydraulic experience. We struggle finding people with those skills right now so we are willing to train them by we just can't get people who want to work. These 20-25 yr old kids who have all this enthusiasm when they interview soon tell you that working 40 hrs/week is to much. And we can't really expect them to be on time and at work every day. It's ridiculous. I bet in 22 yrs of working I have missed less than 10 days of work for illness/etc. we get kids now that miss 10 days in their first 6 months. And when they are at work they spend half their time talking and going to the bathroom. I prefer to hire farm kids, they grew up knowing how to work.
 
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ezra

Well-known member
wow only miss 10 days in 6 mo lucky you.most kids I give a chance are gone after the first week.
bunch of lazy candy *** pantie wast people and that is what you are banking you country's future on LOL.
guys just out of the service are the best bet hands down.
 
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deerhunter

New member
you r are dead on on what our work force is turning into. i wish i could work a 50 hour week and maybe a 8 on saturday! and im 26. we get alot of green horns that come and go as well. either there late, sick, hungover(ive been there many times), forgot that its monday or try playing the pitty game were they want to be spoon fed. ambition gets you every in life
 
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tealracing16

Member
as a 28 year old, why is it my generations fault that we are lazy and not my parents that made me this way? They wanted me to have everything and they worked hard for it so they gave it to me. Now I think I am entitled to it.

Instead of saying that the kids are the problem, why don't we go into the root cause of what made us this way.
 
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tealracing16

Member
Yep your right, I went to college, earned my own degree, got a job that didn't pay what I was promised, worked hard, got laid off due to the economy but yet still managed to pay my mortgage by working crappy jobs and kept working towards getting back in my degree field. Now some people I went to school with that mommy and daddy bought them everything have really nice trucks, boats, sleds, wheelers etc, but they live with their parents and complain. I am not blaiming my parents for me having everything I have, I am blaming ALL parents of the "bad" generation. What do you think hippies rebelled against? hard work and a steady paycheck?

and OMG? you must be younger than me to use that kind of language.
 
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eao

Active member
That reminded me of this article I read recently...

Sorry about the poor quality, did not scan well.

Truckes.jpg
 
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