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A lot of people talk about the money, but here's some other factors: Schedule - shifts start at 6AM or earlier. I knew a guy who worked concrete, he'd have to

A lot of people talk about the money, but here's some other factors: Schedule - shifts start at 6AM or earlier. I knew a guy who worked concrete, he'd have to show up at 4AM to load the mixer. I knew another guy who majored in construction management, he said they had a 6AM class every day. The theory was if you couldn't make it to class, you wouldn't make it to work either. Consistency - I knew an electrician who was constantly in and out of work. He was either working 70+ hours a week or out of work for 2-3 months. The construction industry is very boom or bust. Drug Testing - the same friend who majored in construction management told me that something like 60% of their applicants failed a drug screen (almost always marijuana). The crazy thing is that he claimed they didn't actually care - their insurance company insisted on it. THC stays in your urine for quite a while so a positive test doesn't necessarily mean you're high right now, but people just wouldn't stay clean long enough to clear it. Safety - Others have mentioned it but between the day-to-day wear and tear and the risk of accident, it's tough on your body. Not many people over age 50 still work in construction trades, unless they're at Master level or have moved to management.

tuatoru 3y ago
Yeah - employers in these industries seem to be acting like there's a plentiful supply of young adult males from which to pick and choose. They need to look at a few demographic tables and charts. 1. https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/Probabilistic/POP/15-24/840 https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/Probabilistic/POP/15-24...
Arrath 3y ago
> Schedule - shifts start at 6AM or earlier. I knew a guy who worked concrete, he'd have to show up at 4AM to load the mixer. I knew another guy who majored in construction management, he said they had a 6AM class every day. The theory was if you couldn't make it to class, you wouldn't make it to work either. This cuts for the nice highly paid salaried construction engineers too, as you allude to with the classes at 6am anecdote. IME, project management expects the engineers to be on-site at least a half hour or more before the field shift begins, and at least an hour past the field shift to ensure that the 'actual' work, the field stuff, is organized, ready, and gets carried out productively. Regardless if the field is working 8s, 10s, 12s, or more. No first thing in the morning panics or scrambles when a foreman realizes he doesn't have a work plan in hand and his crew of a dozen who started at 6am sits around waiting for the engineer to traipse in around 9am with an iced coffee just to print a pdf that should've been ready the night before. These kind of hours pretty rapidly cut into that equivalent hourly rate your salary equals!

tuatoru 3y ago

Yeah - employers in these industries seem to be acting like there's a plentiful supply of young adult males from which to pick and choose. They need to look at a few demographic tables and charts. 1. https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/Probabilistic/POP/15-24/840 https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/Probabilistic/POP/15-24...

Arrath 3y ago

> Schedule - shifts start at 6AM or earlier. I knew a guy who worked concrete, he'd have to show up at 4AM to load the mixer. I knew another guy who majored in construction management, he said they had a 6AM class every day. The theory was if you couldn't make it to class, you wouldn't make it to work either. This cuts for the nice highly paid salaried construction engineers too, as you allude to with the classes at 6am anecdote. IME, project management expects the engineers to be on-site at least a half hour or more before the field shift begins, and at least an hour past the field shift to ensure that the 'actual' work, the field stuff, is organized, ready, and gets carried out productively. Regardless if the field is working 8s, 10s, 12s, or more. No first thing in the morning panics or scrambles when a foreman realizes he doesn't have a work plan in hand and his crew of a dozen who started at 6am sits around waiting for the engineer to traipse in around 9am with an iced coffee just to print a pdf that should've been ready the night before. These kind of hours pretty rapidly cut into that equivalent hourly rate your salary equals!