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> This doesn't surprise me at all. We're now in a place where a non-skilled career doesn't get you much more than minimum wage, and if you absolutely have to ha

> This doesn't surprise me at all. We're now in a place where a non-skilled career doesn't get you much more than minimum wage, and if you absolutely have to have a college degree to get a job This is so totally and utterly not true. What you need these days is the same as you needed in old days: training. Going to college doesn't guarantee you anything unless your future employer considers it "training" -- which is not many fields. There are plenty of blue-collar jobs out there that pay livable wages. They all require some degree of training. Even right now there's an enormous demand for experienced electricians in the bay area, and their salaries are starting to rival average tech workers -- especially if they decide to work overtime (which many of them are because the demand is so high). I highly support and recommend Mike Rowe's organization which is doing a lot to actually help normal people find good paying jobs, and not selling them some absurd dream about education[0]. [0] http://profoundlydisconnected.com/foundation/ http://profoundlydisconnected.com/foundation/

austenallred 9y ago
> We're now in a place where a non-skilled career doesn't get you much more than minimum wage > There are plenty of blue-collar jobs out there that pay livable wages. They all require some degree of training. We don't disagree
- tcbawo 9y ago
  It seems more and more the case that employers are not willing to train employees. This is not surprising given the trend away from long-term obligations. Although, I wonder if this is reinforced in some way (employment/tax policy, law, etc.).
watwut 9y ago
"Even right now there's an enormous demand for experienced electricians in the bay area," Keywords being experienced and bay area which is super expensive to live in. Non experienced wanna be workers in bay area have hard time to pay rent.
- matt_wulfeck 9y ago
  Experience here is as little as 2 years as a journeyman. And during that time you're still getting paid a great wage.
brightball 9y ago
Agreed. I know HVAC people rolling in cash. Plumbers cleaning up. General contractors trying to keep up with demand. Ditto electricians. The consistent trait among all of these guys is that they did good work at a fair price, were pleasant and reliable to work with, consistently communicate and were honest. This results in these guys getting lots and lots and lots of word of mouth referrals, not to mention call backs for future work. When people are putting up a reasonable chunk of their own after tax money for work like that, 99% of the time it's enough for them that their biggest concern is trust and word of mouth recommendations is where trusted referrals come from. Integrity goes a long way in the contractor world.

austenallred 9y ago

> We're now in a place where a non-skilled career doesn't get you much more than minimum wage > There are plenty of blue-collar jobs out there that pay livable wages. They all require some degree of training. We don't disagree

tcbawo 9y ago
It seems more and more the case that employers are not willing to train employees. This is not surprising given the trend away from long-term obligations. Although, I wonder if this is reinforced in some way (employment/tax policy, law, etc.).

watwut 9y ago

"Even right now there's an enormous demand for experienced electricians in the bay area," Keywords being experienced and bay area which is super expensive to live in. Non experienced wanna be workers in bay area have hard time to pay rent.

matt_wulfeck 9y ago
Experience here is as little as 2 years as a journeyman. And during that time you're still getting paid a great wage.

brightball 9y ago

Agreed. I know HVAC people rolling in cash. Plumbers cleaning up. General contractors trying to keep up with demand. Ditto electricians. The consistent trait among all of these guys is that they did good work at a fair price, were pleasant and reliable to work with, consistently communicate and were honest. This results in these guys getting lots and lots and lots of word of mouth referrals, not to mention call backs for future work. When people are putting up a reasonable chunk of their own after tax money for work like that, 99% of the time it's enough for them that their biggest concern is trust and word of mouth recommendations is where trusted referrals come from. Integrity goes a long way in the contractor world.