$275 per hour

I went to an HR class a few weeks ago and they are trying to address our labor issues. Most of our trade positions have openings and currently 45% of our workforce is eligible to retire right now. The money is good, health insurance excellent, and we have a pension but there is still a shortage of people who want to drive buses or work in dark, hot subway tunnels. We have a lot of deferred maintenance and upgrades that will need to be done in the near future and a shrinking pool of people to do it.  

As as far as teaching kids and steering them one way or another I don’t know how well you could do that or even how good an idea it is to choose our careers at 16 years old.   How many of us ended up doing what we thought we would in high school? I was a bad student and wanted to do something with my hands but was told by my guidence councilor that I wasn’t quite dumb enough for tech school. I failed out of college after three semesters and eventually became a bus driver. They didn’t fight my younger brother as hard. He went to aviation classes in high school, then was a helicopter mechanic in the National Guard while putting himself through school. He ended up getting a masters and teaches history which are two things he never expected to be doing.

z31maniac said:

GCrites80s said:

You know what a lot of people find off-putting about the trades, including healthcare? There are very few people of the opposite sex around.

Really? Since my first job at State Farm, it's been all in technical/engineering areas and are almost exclusively men. We are about to hire our 6th tech writer for the OKC office, all men. Software and UX, all men but 3. There are 5-6 in billing and accounting, so that's still only 8-9 out of 55-60 employees?

So it's not zero, but it's certainly not like the school of journalism (Broadcast Journalism, Print Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations) when I was still in college, which was like 75% attractive women. 

 

You may not be in a "trade", but you're doing highly specialized technical work. Those types of occupations also tend to be dominated by one gender despite often requiring a high formal education level.

GCrites80s said:

z31maniac said:

GCrites80s said:

You know what a lot of people find off-putting about the trades, including healthcare? There are very few people of the opposite sex around.

Really? Since my first job at State Farm, it's been all in technical/engineering areas and are almost exclusively men. We are about to hire our 6th tech writer for the OKC office, all men. Software and UX, all men but 3. There are 5-6 in billing and accounting, so that's still only 8-9 out of 55-60 employees?

So it's not zero, but it's certainly not like the school of journalism (Broadcast Journalism, Print Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations) when I was still in college, which was like 75% attractive women. 

 

You may not be in a "trade", but you're doing highly specialized technical work. Those types of occupations also tend to be dominated by one gender despite often requiring a high formal education level.

My experience, in a liberal state with high cost of living (both of those facts do matter) is that there are approx. 50% women in the workforce at every level below C-suite. 

Trans_Maro said:

Well, I've been sorting out a 1964 Ferrari 250GTL for the last two days.

I think I just heard her say "I want you inside me..."

Be careful.

You don't want to give in only to reach down and find a linkage where you least expected one. Don't ask me how I know.

Trans_Maro said:

I think that there should also be some frank discussion at the post-secondary level about whether that course you're taking is really, truly going to make you any money in the real world.

My friend has his B/A in theology. 

My sister-in-law has a degree in forensic anthropology.

Not saying they're useless, just questioning whether the money should be spent on them because society says you need a degree.

I think business management would be something worthwhile for everyone to take if they're doing post-secondary education but that's the 40-year old me talking, not the 19 year-old me.

You are spot on; business degree if you don’t have another plan

GCrites80s said:

z31maniac said:

GCrites80s said:

You know what a lot of people find off-putting about the trades, including healthcare? There are very few people of the opposite sex around.

Really? Since my first job at State Farm, it's been all in technical/engineering areas and are almost exclusively men. We are about to hire our 6th tech writer for the OKC office, all men. Software and UX, all men but 3. There are 5-6 in billing and accounting, so that's still only 8-9 out of 55-60 employees?

So it's not zero, but it's certainly not like the school of journalism (Broadcast Journalism, Print Journalism, Advertising, Public Relations) when I was still in college, which was like 75% attractive women. 

 

You may not be in a "trade", but you're doing highly specialized technical work. Those types of occupations also tend to be dominated by one gender despite often requiring a high formal education level.

I don't see people skipping STEM degrees because they we will be largely male industries, why would only seeing other guys on a construction site be a detriment to becoming a plumber or electrician? I was saying I don't really think that's an issue. 

I think the real issue with the push for 4 year degrees is that someone who gets a Marketing, Public Relations (me!), pre-Civil War American History, etc, think they should make the same money as someone who graduates with an Electrical Engineering, Fire Protection Technology, Architecture, or Software Engineering degree.

As a (former) construction worker, having a woman foreman, owner, boss, etc...would never be a problem for me. Unusual at first, but if she had her E36 M3 together, no problem. I have issues with crap bosses, not gender.