I'm torn on this. As long as this country keeps allowing illegal foreign labor, the trades aren't viable for most people. The bottom of the market is saturated with people who will work for 200 bucks a day or less under the table.
The top of the market isn't any better. The hard sciences are filled with companies hiring h1b visas
Basically more than an education we have an immigration and labor laws problem. We have companies putting profits before people, and not in a social justice way either
The bottom of the market is saturated with people who will work for 200 bucks a day or less under the table.
Having come from a construction background I can say this is it. I was competing against crews that carpooled in a single mini-van and all shared a shitty apartment in the worst part of town. There was an accident several years ago where a Chevy Avalanche went over the guard rail on a bridge during icy conditions. Seven illegals died. Seven dudes crammed into one Chevy 'truck'.
This not only represses wages but discourages people to continue working in the trades. I got tired of having to pick up the slack for people who couldn't read plans or understand directions so I went in another direction. The myth of the hard working illegal is just that a myth. I don't know a single tradesman who thinks illegals as a rule outwork Americans, just the boomers who want to pay them $500 to remodel their bathroom.
The same occurs in heavy industrial construction. 95% of the trades are illegals from Mexico, approximately 75% of engineers are H1B visas from India. And. It. Shows. Mediocrity is the high bar. Shrugs, "Eeze ok", blank stares, and poor craftsmanship is what you frequently get at the field level. Shrugs, disdain, blank stares, condescension, incompetence, and "You have supervisor I speak with?" is what you get from the Hindu "engineers". The Boomers have been on a fifty year crusade to destroy America and seem to have succeeded with their Democratic voting, bathroom remodels, and Millennial grandchildren.
I've been working for a company renovating an old industrial plant built in 1960. The only things left from the original construction are the shell and structure. I have yet to find a column or beam that's more than 3/16" off. I can even put a square in the old corners and they're true, this place is 1.6M square feet. The new interior walls we build are lucky to hit within an inch and being perfectly square is a pipe dream.
We really are living in the ruins of a greater civilization.
And it's not just the quality of the craftsmanship but the quality of the materials that's also striking. We have thrown away our inheritance at all levels in the pursuit of profit and political ideology.
I'm torn on this. As long as this country keeps allowing illegal foreign labor, the trades aren't viable for most people. The bottom of the market is saturated with people who will work for 200 bucks a day or less under the table.
The top of the market isn't any better. The hard sciences are filled with companies hiring h1b visas
Basically more than an education we have an immigration and labor laws problem. We have companies putting profits before people, and not in a social justice way either
Having come from a construction background I can say this is it. I was competing against crews that carpooled in a single mini-van and all shared a shitty apartment in the worst part of town. There was an accident several years ago where a Chevy Avalanche went over the guard rail on a bridge during icy conditions. Seven illegals died. Seven dudes crammed into one Chevy 'truck'.
This not only represses wages but discourages people to continue working in the trades. I got tired of having to pick up the slack for people who couldn't read plans or understand directions so I went in another direction. The myth of the hard working illegal is just that a myth. I don't know a single tradesman who thinks illegals as a rule outwork Americans, just the boomers who want to pay them $500 to remodel their bathroom.
The same occurs in heavy industrial construction. 95% of the trades are illegals from Mexico, approximately 75% of engineers are H1B visas from India. And. It. Shows. Mediocrity is the high bar. Shrugs, "Eeze ok", blank stares, and poor craftsmanship is what you frequently get at the field level. Shrugs, disdain, blank stares, condescension, incompetence, and "You have supervisor I speak with?" is what you get from the Hindu "engineers". The Boomers have been on a fifty year crusade to destroy America and seem to have succeeded with their Democratic voting, bathroom remodels, and Millennial grandchildren.
I've been working for a company renovating an old industrial plant built in 1960. The only things left from the original construction are the shell and structure. I have yet to find a column or beam that's more than 3/16" off. I can even put a square in the old corners and they're true, this place is 1.6M square feet. The new interior walls we build are lucky to hit within an inch and being perfectly square is a pipe dream.
We really are living in the ruins of a greater civilization.
And it's not just the quality of the craftsmanship but the quality of the materials that's also striking. We have thrown away our inheritance at all levels in the pursuit of profit and political ideology.