Completely agree, nobody talks about this. I welded after high school and got paid a garbage wage (unlike what Mike Rowe says), I got a mechanical engineering degree and now I sit in an office and design robots. I get paid 5x more as an engineer and feel guilty talking to former coworkers because welding is so much more physically demanding.
Agreed. Been in welding for 12 years now if I didn’t have my current job I’d probably go do something else. Those welders mike Rowe is talking about are a very small minority.
Hey congrats on the degree as well as the job! I can see that. I'm an engineering tech. Comparatively it is an easier job than any of my trades jobs. The trades are hard. Mentally and physically. I think the trades should pay better.
The trade are dying because nobody wants to pay labor to do work.hell,the material sellers have raised prices on materials, hell,let them install it too.we aren't doing it for free.youre right.dumb hires dumber,and you're seeing the result.i retired 20 times in 10 years,there is no money in trades.If I go wire in a service intrance,it's $2000.00 half up front.or call someone else
People act like construction workers are scumbags. The way I feel about it is. Build your own schools, homes etc. As a brickmason and a Carpenter for over 40years. I don't have to risk my life and limbs for ungrateful jerks for cheap wages. Looking forward to retirement. I myself have had just about enough of the disrespect 😤
@V I Λ ridiculous. I have heard the nasty stuff teachers are telling children about becoming construction workers. Shows their intelligence. Without construction workers teachers would be teaching in a field. Living in tents. We are all needed! Stop thinking everyone is better than one another!
So far as a tradesman I have had a pretty good experience. I am 10 years in as a diesel technician, I specialize in Detroit Diesel and Carrier transicold. I went to vo-tech in high school, went to a trade school after that and started where I am working now at 19. I went from apprentice to journeyman by the time I was 25. I have roughly 100k in tools + toolbox paid for in full at the shop. I paid off all of my debts and started a family. I got to go to a lot of training paid for by the company over the years. I have competed in TMC supertech since 2015 which is a national skills competition for heavy duty truck technicians, this year I placed 8th overall. I competed in a north American skills competition for Detroit Diesel put on by Daimler in 2018 and took first place. The pay is really good for my region, however with the rampant inflation over the past year or so things are tighter than they use to be. There is no doubt that you are literally sacrificing yourself and your well being on a daily basis, I have plate and 7 screws in one of my hands because of it. But when you think about it though that has been the role of men for millennia, sacrificing yourself for your wife and kids, that is what our dads, grandfathers, great grandfathers etc. did for us, and in many cases they did it for what we would view today as a slave wage. Despite that I really do enjoy what it is that I do for a living, I honestly believe that I was put on this earth to build or repair things in some way. I do think that we will see massive shortages in the skilled trades as the older generation retires and there aren't young people to replace them, I think you will see a decline in the quality of workmanship in general because there weren't enough young people working under seasoned tradesmen, and I also think that you will see labor prices skyrocket, there is only so many hours a man can work in a day and those available hours will end up going to the highest bidder.
Wow. Thank you for sharing that. You're very accomplished and skilled in your trade. I respect the insight you've provided to the community. Do you think there is a fix? or perhaps time will tell?
Been in the commercial construction business for 40 plus years. Bottom line is low bid get's the job. Those with the money create those jobs. They are never going to pay anymore than they have too and couldn't care less about a person's well being. As long as there are endless amounts of construction companies that will "do it cheaper" the trades people are going to be at their mercy. Add the constant influx of illegal immigrants who can get the job done for less, under any circumstances, nothing is going to change . My deduction from years of experience is if you want more your gonna have to either have your own operation (and that's no guarantee in a cut throat market at most times) or go for the degreed jobs that require the education and time invested . Sadly that's just how the world is when it comes to top money and public status. It's a keyboard world.......a hammer and wrench get little respect.
Most illegal immigrants go into unskilled installer jobs. While many legal immigrants tend to take away white collar jobs. There is a “grey zone” of work in the trades that is not distorted, if you can find it for yourself. I myself got an associate degree in automation and control systems. Worked as an engineering technician for two years and then went into the electrician trade to do HVAC controls and fire alarms. From my experience, there are too many electricians who focus on wiring up receptacles or light bulbs, while electricians who know how to do controls or fire alarms and automation are very, very few.
Facts. Hvac here. Why take a job with the hall, for 15 dollars an hour (the same I can get at McDonalds)…and also paying three bucks an hour to the hall by the way….so less than McDonalds. Then we here “just wait till you’re with the hall for a few years!”….yeah and wait for the increase in dues with every raise. They take your raise for the Union. And if you’re working non-Union, joy, you’re paid more, maybe if your boss isn’t dirty and only hiring untrained people to juice. The trades are a racket at this point. The only people getting rich off of HVAC are contractors screwing their HVAC techs and the schools selling bullshit certificates that mean absolutely nothing. The fuck?! Anyone can take the EPA test without paying 10 grand for useless schools that won’t have functional training aids, equipment or knowledge. The fuck?!?
The union and non union construction contractors need to raise bids and pay us 500$ an hour to where even doctors and lawyers go I wish I was a construction worker they make more and have a bigger house.
I worked as a electricians helper 40 years ago and it was the worst job I ever had. Lasted 1 year while I went to trade school for electronics. Low pay, no healthcare, no nothing.
@@aiyogarage I have to, you know at what time you start working, but have no idea what time you’ll be back home. Meanwhile this company are making a ton of money at your time expenses
For those types of companies, I’d just work there for a few years, get the work experience and then move on. I worked as an HVAC controls (BAS) technician for 2 years and had the same issues you are having. On call during weekends, too much overtime work, and crazy work hours. I left that field and became a specialized controls electrician.
The local wages for electricians are tied to hours of work at the apprentice level starting out at 45% of journeyman pay, going up to 50% after 1000 hours, 55% after 2000 hours, etc up to 90% passing 6500 hours. Journeyman wage is ~$50 + another $40ish in benefits (pension, health insurance, etc). It's not a terrible path. Not the path I'm on, but I have a lot of respect for the people who choose it. Local electrical contractors tend to bill ~100/hour for labor.
Trades are severely underpaid. When the trades catch up to what they should be getting paid then people will want to go into them. For now there is almost zero incentive. Work hard, in dangerous conditions, no guarantee in anyway, feast or famine. I have two trades under my belt from 30 years ago and if I were to consider doing it I wouldn't have to think too long about it. Might as well work for the government because at least you get a pension. No pension at the end of your working career. Nothing! And to add to that you are looked down on by the academic snobs. Go on a dating site and say you are a tradesman and women want nothing to do with you. So not enough money, dangerous, no security, looked at as if you are a low brow idiot. Ya no thanks. Journeymen should be making at least $100. One day when there are none left but a few then their worth will finally be seen. No houses being built, no cars being repaired, your furnace won't work, your plumbing is going to not work someday etc. Good luck academia!!
I just thought about another approach to problem - that earlier all trades, was a way simple, especially on starting level. Now there is lot of tools and training even for low level employee. So if person is smart enough, he gets out of entry level position one way or another. If there is no way up, anyone who can understand it, leave, and who is not smart enough just isn't smart enough to go up. Surely you can hire any ammounght of unskilled labor, but you need someone in the middle and someone on top. Smart people, basically. But if smart people leave, you have what you have....
Whether you are an auto tech, plumber, heating Ac tech or a professional like a dentist, physician or veterinarian you will not make money unless you are your own boss
In my area, some trades get paid poorly, but others are making a damn fortune. I went the electrician route and ended up being a telecom tech. I'm 26 making way more than the average 26 y.o. in my region, and that's before benefits and profit sharing (employee owned company). I've encountered lots of guys across all the trades who were making crap for pay but then switched companies and became really happy with their pay. It's all about where you look, in my experience Also, to defend Mike Rowe, I'm not aware that he ever claimed to be a tradesman. Toss in some links to vids of him saying otherwise if I'm wrong, but he claims to be from a family of tradesmen, and aspired to be like them, but decided he was too bad at it and went to college instead. That's the way he's seemed to put it every time I've seen him talk about it. And he does good work bringing awareness of the trade labor shortage into the public eye. Doesn't he do a lot of recruiter work? I would say that criticizing him for grabbing a degree instead of a tool is like criticizing a recruiter for picking up a pen & paperwork instead of a rifle. The recruiter is just as important for the military as is the soldier. In the same vein, someone like Rowe is important to bring attention to a field of work that, yeah, I don't think gets enough coverage in mainstream culture. If anything, my personal experience growing up was every major influence in my life (parents, school, media) explicitly saying to stay as far away from trades as possible. All this being said, Rowe isn't a tradesman and doesn't even represent tradesmen, he just gives hardworking people a chance to share their experiences in their respective career fields. And I see nothing wrong with his decision to recognize a lack of natural talent & roll with what skills towards which he thinks he's naturally more inclined, instead of vainly pursuing something in which he feared he would never be good.
Also worked telecomm. I agree its about where you work. But most people in the trades have limited options. In some ways its their fault, in other ways its not. The point is that trade work is demanding both physically and mentally. It doesn't pay for the long term damage on the body and mind (most of the time). Mike Rowe hasn't done the best at spreading information about the trades. I really like that he is very supportive of the trades. But I also feel like he bats for the big guy. Not the guy trying to support his family.
Rowe is a corporate mouthpiece, nothing more. You have to work for yourself. I spent 20 years as a German car tech. When I left the top was 28 an hour, and the dealer shop rate was 180 an hour. During that time I took a 2 year welding program, electronics, and a machine shop program. I have a small shop. I have a lathe, mill, hoist, surface grinder, benders, all my mechanics tools, and tons of tooling I have collected over the years. I don’t touch anything around here for under 100 bucks an hour. I do all kinds of off the wall crap. Remote activated secret compartments in cars. Custom parts for engine swaps, custom actuators, etc. I probably have 200 grand in tools and equipment at this point. I don’t need a middle man to pimp me out and take the lions share of the money, and neither do you. Look at the median wage for most trades. You won’t be buying a house on it in most metropolitan parts of the country. Think about it, the person actually doing the work makes the least. That’s the reason why there is a supposed labor shortage. No one wants to participate in the exploitation economy. Can you blame them?
You’re not gonna make more than $30 an hour realistically and if you do, you’re gonna be working crazy hours all this for something it could’ve gotten for the couple of years of studying
Spot on. Been in the trades 12 years now sages been stagnant for years. My question is what do we do about it? Even with the “labor” shortage it doesn’t seem driving wages up.
Unions don't pay enough to buy a house. Pay is pathetic across the board. You have to be a contractor to make a living. We have legalized slave wages and honestly smaller companies are the worst at the worker exploitation as they have minimal overhead and pay the same as everyone else while having the same high labor rates as the larger companies. It's truly fucked how trades are treated especially carpenters.
@Justin Gibbons I make really great money in the union like 90k in missouri roughly 45$ an hour the only downside is when work is slow the layoffs you lose alot 2008-2011 was not fun
What is also not being mentioned is how many years it takes to become a master at your trade. All that time is the equivalent to a MD residency, with dramatically lower pay and much higher risk of bodily harm. I feel in the next 10 years it will become very obvious to society what highly skilled Craftsman are worth, as the elder generation retires or croaks and the gap becomes painfully obvious.
Smell that? MONEY to be made. I’m deff taking advantage of this. In 10 years I want to go from someone who wants to get his electrical apprenticeship, to a guy that owns a construction company and has a whole crew that is trustworthy and happy because they are being paid good and treated well.
In a lot of countries that are third world now,..., when their societies started their decent,..., one of the first signs was the devaluation of tradespeople. Next will be engineers, if you're not careful.
@@aiyogarage if you want to look into this check the third world countries whose colleges/universities were once recognized and now are not. Examples, Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Cuba etc
Good video, but based on my experience and the personal experiences of family friends I speak to, the trades have been very distorted and there are certainly some trades a young person needs to avoid. While other trades are very lucrative (well paid) to go into.
@@aiyogarage yeah man I’m not disrespecting the trades but they don’t get paid what they should . The only real way to make money in the trades is being ur own boss but not everyone is cut out for that
Just through observation and trying to figure out what it is I need to do to keep myself happy or occupied. I have found this is true. I do not know if tradesmen are "scanners" but I have found myself to be one and I have found myself looking at the trades recently. The entire time I have avoided them for these exact reasons. However, with the pandemic I think what you said about being independent and just taking jobs on your own is the route trades were heading and are now kind of forced to be. As you said no one with the right mind or strong enough will is going to settle for little and put up with a lot. Some type of Concierge Trades Jobs (look into the show "royal pains") is really where I think a lot of entrepreneurial/trade types are going to end up because of this. And really it is a good thing because its going to help bring in what the new economy is going to look like. It is going to be chaotic but it will end up being better for more people rather than the lucky few.
@@SmokeyLove-vt4xd hey, thank you for contributing. But I was having some trouble understanding what you were saying. Such as “scanners”. Could you elaborate more on your point so I may have a better understanding?
@@aiyogarage Yeah, thanks for the reply! “Scanners” is actually a concept made by barbara sher. It is something she came up with when she was trying to help people who found themselves not being able to finish what they started or felt unable to commit to an occupation or even reading a book. I study Psychology and I always find it interesting when you observe similarities in people. Especially when you are learning new subjects unrelated to what you were doing previously. I am not saying this is what you were talking about but that boredom you mentioned made me think of this sort of personality type (even though its not an official type lol). Also, not all people who seem like scanners are scanners. Its really not important either way its just something Id be interested in finding more data about. Which brings forth the question, if the person that feels bored as an apprentice has bad pay but was always engaged in the work, such as constantly learning/ working on new projects. Instead of doing the same thing over and over like you mentioned. Would that make up for the pay in the early stages? Also, the main reason I brought it up was to in some way, point out that this was a reality and you were pretty valid with everything you said. Especially as someone with no experience in the field yet, I can tell what you were saying was right on the nose. Being a retail worker thats why you see people quit all the time for the same reasons just to do the same thing elsewhere. My point about concierge work was that people will now look for independent contractors/tradesmen to fulfill work and big corps will really need to step up pay but this will come at the cost of higher qualifications. Like you said about that cert (no idea what it is) it really wasnt any real guarantee (like anything in life) of the quality of the work you would get. So is there really any consistency? I think thats why you find it better to find your own work, which I think others have seen becoming more of the case. Sorry for the long response. Especially if it feels like you didnt get any clarification or anything really new from it lol
also they are dying because of these jealous as old men not trying to teach young men what they know just so they can continue to be more valuable so at the end of the day the trades are going to die because of lack of sharing knowledge
I think he mentions pay, but right, he didn't focus intensely on it. Your vid does a better job of that. Throughout history, getting resources is what motivates people. These days, the trades simply aren't offering young people sufficient motivation to enter.
three words, seven figure salaries. If the keyboard rapists in the IT earn 200,300k and up in cushy office jobs or work from home then the tradesmen should earn atleast 2-3 times that. 100 bucks an hour should be minimum for aprentices, 200+ bucks for experienced tradesmen. You pay peanuts you get monkiez.
You mention all of your experience throughout college and different job positions, but you claim that The Honest Carpenter is a fake because he pivoted from being just a carpenter to a host of a RUclips show after a knee injury. I'm pretty sure he mentioned his knee injury in the very video that you "responded" to. In fact, he mentions the pay as well. He mentions that people tell him "Carpenters just shouldn't cost more than $20/hr" or something like that. I agreed with his video entirely, and I don't understand what you think you refuted here. Both this video and his bring up a lot of the same points, yours just talks about yourself extensively and gets more nihilistic. And why not go from engineering technician to engineer?
Oh I don't have anything against the honest carpenter and I don't think he's a fake. I just think he missed the biggest point about the pay being crap and usually working conditions are unfavorable. I just not a new engineering tech job. I'll have to spend some time at my new company to work my way up to engineer.
@@aiyogarage I'm a new engineering tech at a company as well, much safer than my coworkers in actual trades. I think The Carpenter made more than one video. There's one where he mentions that master-level Carpenters are capped at like $35 or something and I consider that too low for any trade tbh
@@fosyay1780 oh congrats! Yes I agree that $35 an hour for a master of your craft is much too low. But it's an unfortunate situation where someone is always willing to do it for less. Its a billing war, not a quality war. It's my personal belief that trade wages will continue to decline. And I honestly don't see a solution insight. I imagine they'll probably just import workers at some point to do the trades.. I'm honestly not sure.
@@aiyogarage Another thing I bet they'll try doing is just 3D printing everything that nobody on the crew can make by hand. The trades are just going to prefab and no repairs will happen
@@aiyogarage Pay is a simple matter of supply and demand. The supply of trades people increases every day by the thousands at the border. If you care about the trades, don't support the open border policy of one political party! Your union leaders are doing fine, maybe it's time to re-examine the system you're in.
Completely agree, nobody talks about this. I welded after high school and got paid a garbage wage (unlike what Mike Rowe says), I got a mechanical engineering degree and now I sit in an office and design robots. I get paid 5x more as an engineer and feel guilty talking to former coworkers because welding is so much more physically demanding.
Agreed. Been in welding for 12 years now if I didn’t have my current job I’d probably go do something else. Those welders mike Rowe is talking about are a very small minority.
Hey congrats on the degree as well as the job! I can see that. I'm an engineering tech. Comparatively it is an easier job than any of my trades jobs. The trades are hard. Mentally and physically. I think the trades should pay better.
The trade are dying because nobody wants to pay labor to do work.hell,the material sellers have raised prices on materials, hell,let them install it too.we aren't doing it for free.youre right.dumb hires dumber,and you're seeing the result.i retired 20 times in 10 years,there is no money in trades.If I go wire in a service intrance,it's $2000.00 half up front.or call someone else
I charge 300 an hour to make up for when work is slow now that work is plentiful I make em pay me like a doctor
People act like construction workers are scumbags.
The way I feel about it is. Build your own schools, homes etc. As a brickmason and a Carpenter for over 40years. I don't have to risk my life and limbs for ungrateful jerks for cheap wages. Looking forward to retirement. I myself have had just about enough of the disrespect 😤
@V I Λ ridiculous. I have heard the nasty stuff teachers are telling children about becoming construction workers. Shows their intelligence. Without construction workers teachers would be teaching in a field. Living in tents. We are all needed! Stop thinking everyone is better than one another!
I appreciate what you did or us. Thank you.
So far as a tradesman I have had a pretty good experience. I am 10 years in as a diesel technician, I specialize in Detroit Diesel and Carrier transicold. I went to vo-tech in high school, went to a trade school after that and started where I am working now at 19. I went from apprentice to journeyman by the time I was 25. I have roughly 100k in tools + toolbox paid for in full at the shop. I paid off all of my debts and started a family. I got to go to a lot of training paid for by the company over the years. I have competed in TMC supertech since 2015 which is a national skills competition for heavy duty truck technicians, this year I placed 8th overall. I competed in a north American skills competition for Detroit Diesel put on by Daimler in 2018 and took first place. The pay is really good for my region, however with the rampant inflation over the past year or so things are tighter than they use to be.
There is no doubt that you are literally sacrificing yourself and your well being on a daily basis, I have plate and 7 screws in one of my hands because of it. But when you think about it though that has been the role of men for millennia, sacrificing yourself for your wife and kids, that is what our dads, grandfathers, great grandfathers etc. did for us, and in many cases they did it for what we would view today as a slave wage. Despite that I really do enjoy what it is that I do for a living, I honestly believe that I was put on this earth to build or repair things in some way. I do think that we will see massive shortages in the skilled trades as the older generation retires and there aren't young people to replace them, I think you will see a decline in the quality of workmanship in general because there weren't enough young people working under seasoned tradesmen, and I also think that you will see labor prices skyrocket, there is only so many hours a man can work in a day and those available hours will end up going to the highest bidder.
Wow. Thank you for sharing that. You're very accomplished and skilled in your trade. I respect the insight you've provided to the community. Do you think there is a fix? or perhaps time will tell?
Been in the commercial construction business for 40 plus years. Bottom line is low bid get's the job. Those with the money create those jobs. They are never going to pay anymore than they have too and couldn't care less about a person's well being. As long as there are endless amounts of construction companies that will "do it cheaper" the trades people are going to be at their mercy. Add the constant influx of illegal immigrants who can get the job done for less, under any circumstances, nothing is going to change . My deduction from years of experience is if you want more your gonna have to either have your own operation (and that's no guarantee in a cut throat market at most times) or go for the degreed jobs that require the education and time invested . Sadly that's just how the world is when it comes to top money and public status. It's a keyboard world.......a hammer and wrench get little respect.
even white collar jobs are too much of a guarantee I know personally 3 engineers making less than 100k two with masters degree
Most illegal immigrants go into unskilled installer jobs. While many legal immigrants tend to take away white collar jobs.
There is a “grey zone” of work in the trades that is not distorted, if you can find it for yourself.
I myself got an associate degree in automation and control systems. Worked as an engineering technician for two years and then went into the electrician trade to do HVAC controls and fire alarms.
From my experience, there are too many electricians who focus on wiring up receptacles or light bulbs, while electricians who know how to do controls or fire alarms and automation are very, very few.
$18 -$20 per hour go to Mcdonalds
McDonald’s won’t even pay $15 per hour. They’ll just replace you with automation and robotics.
Facts. Hvac here. Why take a job with the hall, for 15 dollars an hour (the same I can get at McDonalds)…and also paying three bucks an hour to the hall by the way….so less than McDonalds. Then we here “just wait till you’re with the hall for a few years!”….yeah and wait for the increase in dues with every raise. They take your raise for the Union. And if you’re working non-Union, joy, you’re paid more, maybe if your boss isn’t dirty and only hiring untrained people to juice. The trades are a racket at this point. The only people getting rich off of HVAC are contractors screwing their HVAC techs and the schools selling bullshit certificates that mean absolutely nothing. The fuck?! Anyone can take the EPA test without paying 10 grand for useless schools that won’t have functional training aids, equipment or knowledge. The fuck?!?
Trades have always been a racket. Worker abuse, shorting pay, endless lies. It chews up even the toughest SOB.
The fuck is right Bertelli.
The union and non union construction contractors need to raise bids and pay us 500$ an hour to where even doctors and lawyers go I wish I was a construction worker they make more and have a bigger house.
I worked as a electricians helper 40 years ago and it was the worst job I ever had. Lasted 1 year while I went to trade school for electronics. Low pay, no healthcare, no nothing.
Union has health insurance and retirement hard to get into though.
Union only works if you’re in a big city environment. Elsewhere, you’re stuck with non-union small shop.
I work as HVAC/R technician and the pay is decent, the problem is the long hours of work and the weekends on calls.
I’m sure the pay is decent but sounds like you’ve had to sacrifice a lot of person time.
@@aiyogarage I have to, you know at what time you start working, but have no idea what time you’ll be back home. Meanwhile this company are making a ton of money at your time expenses
For those types of companies, I’d just work there for a few years, get the work experience and then move on.
I worked as an HVAC controls (BAS) technician for 2 years and had the same issues you are having. On call during weekends, too much overtime work, and crazy work hours. I left that field and became a specialized controls electrician.
I agree trades don't pay, I worked in construction and now make 50% more stacking deck boards.
Make them pay you 500$ an hour if no one wants to do it they can't replace you know your worth, we should make millions
Lol idk about $500 an hour. But we should be charging more in general for sure.
The local wages for electricians are tied to hours of work at the apprentice level starting out at 45% of journeyman pay, going up to 50% after 1000 hours, 55% after 2000 hours, etc up to 90% passing 6500 hours. Journeyman wage is ~$50 + another $40ish in benefits (pension, health insurance, etc).
It's not a terrible path. Not the path I'm on, but I have a lot of respect for the people who choose it. Local electrical contractors tend to bill ~100/hour for labor.
Yip you can make 200k a year working hard 💪
Yip you can make 200k a year working hard 💪
Depends on location
@@BetterThanYesterday69 fair point. I've recently heard that they're completely shafted in places like Florida.
Trades are severely underpaid. When the trades catch up to what they should be getting paid then people will want to go into them. For now there is almost zero incentive. Work hard, in dangerous conditions, no guarantee in anyway, feast or famine. I have two trades under my belt from 30 years ago and if I were to consider doing it I wouldn't have to think too long about it. Might as well work for the government because at least you get a pension. No pension at the end of your working career. Nothing! And to add to that you are looked down on by the academic snobs. Go on a dating site and say you are a tradesman and women want nothing to do with you. So not enough money, dangerous, no security, looked at as if you are a low brow idiot. Ya no thanks. Journeymen should be making at least $100. One day when there are none left but a few then their worth will finally be seen. No houses being built, no cars being repaired, your furnace won't work, your plumbing is going to not work someday etc. Good luck academia!!
I just thought about another approach to problem - that earlier all trades, was a way simple, especially on starting level. Now there is lot of tools and training even for low level employee. So if person is smart enough, he gets out of entry level position one way or another. If there is no way up, anyone who can understand it, leave, and who is not smart enough just isn't smart enough to go up. Surely you can hire any ammounght of unskilled labor, but you need someone in the middle and someone on top. Smart people, basically. But if smart people leave, you have what you have....
Whether you are an auto tech, plumber, heating Ac tech or a professional like a dentist, physician or veterinarian you will not make money unless you are your own boss
In my area, some trades get paid poorly, but others are making a damn fortune. I went the electrician route and ended up being a telecom tech. I'm 26 making way more than the average 26 y.o. in my region, and that's before benefits and profit sharing (employee owned company). I've encountered lots of guys across all the trades who were making crap for pay but then switched companies and became really happy with their pay. It's all about where you look, in my experience
Also, to defend Mike Rowe, I'm not aware that he ever claimed to be a tradesman. Toss in some links to vids of him saying otherwise if I'm wrong, but he claims to be from a family of tradesmen, and aspired to be like them, but decided he was too bad at it and went to college instead. That's the way he's seemed to put it every time I've seen him talk about it. And he does good work bringing awareness of the trade labor shortage into the public eye. Doesn't he do a lot of recruiter work?
I would say that criticizing him for grabbing a degree instead of a tool is like criticizing a recruiter for picking up a pen & paperwork instead of a rifle. The recruiter is just as important for the military as is the soldier. In the same vein, someone like Rowe is important to bring attention to a field of work that, yeah, I don't think gets enough coverage in mainstream culture. If anything, my personal experience growing up was every major influence in my life (parents, school, media) explicitly saying to stay as far away from trades as possible. All this being said, Rowe isn't a tradesman and doesn't even represent tradesmen, he just gives hardworking people a chance to share their experiences in their respective career fields. And I see nothing wrong with his decision to recognize a lack of natural talent & roll with what skills towards which he thinks he's naturally more inclined, instead of vainly pursuing something in which he feared he would never be good.
I agree I think it really depends on the trade. I know hvac guys & plumbers making a killing right now
Also worked telecomm. I agree its about where you work. But most people in the trades have limited options. In some ways its their fault, in other ways its not. The point is that trade work is demanding both physically and mentally. It doesn't pay for the long term damage on the body and mind (most of the time).
Mike Rowe hasn't done the best at spreading information about the trades. I really like that he is very supportive of the trades. But I also feel like he bats for the big guy. Not the guy trying to support his family.
Rowe is a corporate mouthpiece, nothing more. You have to work for yourself. I spent 20 years as a German car tech. When I left the top was 28 an hour, and the dealer shop rate was 180 an hour. During that time I took a 2 year welding program, electronics, and a machine shop program.
I have a small shop. I have a lathe, mill, hoist, surface grinder, benders, all my mechanics tools, and tons of tooling I have collected over the years. I don’t touch anything around here for under 100 bucks an hour.
I do all kinds of off the wall crap. Remote activated secret compartments in cars. Custom parts for engine swaps, custom actuators, etc.
I probably have 200 grand in tools and equipment at this point. I don’t need a middle man to pimp me out and take the lions share of the money, and neither do you. Look at the median wage for most trades. You won’t be buying a house on it in most metropolitan parts of the country.
Think about it, the person actually doing the work makes the least. That’s the reason why there is a supposed labor shortage. No one wants to participate in the exploitation economy. Can you blame them?
I honestly can't blame them. It's exploitation. Plane and simple. Thank you for sharing your experience.
You’re not gonna make more than $30 an hour realistically and if you do, you’re gonna be working crazy hours all this for something it could’ve gotten for the couple of years of studying
Spot on. Been in the trades 12 years now sages been stagnant for years. My question is what do we do about it? Even with the “labor” shortage it doesn’t seem driving wages up.
Union
My question exatly
Unions
Unions don't pay enough to buy a house. Pay is pathetic across the board. You have to be a contractor to make a living. We have legalized slave wages and honestly smaller companies are the worst at the worker exploitation as they have minimal overhead and pay the same as everyone else while having the same high labor rates as the larger companies. It's truly fucked how trades are treated especially carpenters.
@Justin Gibbons I make really great money in the union like 90k in missouri roughly 45$ an hour the only downside is when work is slow the layoffs you lose alot 2008-2011 was not fun
I am a carpenter in Ghana is my pleasure to work in abroad I only need visa sponsorship and the flight ticket.
What is also not being mentioned is how many years it takes to become a master at your trade. All that time is the equivalent to a MD residency, with dramatically lower pay and much higher risk of bodily harm. I feel in the next 10 years it will become very obvious to society what highly skilled Craftsman are worth, as the elder generation retires or croaks and the gap becomes painfully obvious.
Smell that? MONEY to be made. I’m deff taking advantage of this. In 10 years I want to go from someone who wants to get his electrical apprenticeship, to a guy that owns a construction company and has a whole crew that is trustworthy and happy because they are being paid good and treated well.
It's already this way I told my union contactor I wanted 100$ an hour on the check plus full benefits and he gave it to me without blinking
In a lot of countries that are third world now,..., when their societies started their decent,..., one of the first signs was the devaluation of tradespeople. Next will be engineers, if you're not careful.
@@syedzubair1351 very interesting. I did not know that. Thank you for sharing
@@aiyogarage if you want to look into this check the third world countries whose colleges/universities were once recognized and now are not. Examples, Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Cuba etc
@@syedzubair1351 Will do!
Good video, but based on my experience and the personal experiences of family friends I speak to, the trades have been very distorted and there are certainly some trades a young person needs to avoid. While other trades are very lucrative (well paid) to go into.
I make more as a school custodian pushing a mop around lol
bro that hurts haha
@@aiyogarage yeah man I’m not disrespecting the trades but they don’t get paid what they should . The only real way to make money in the trades is being ur own boss but not everyone is cut out for that
Just through observation and trying to figure out what it is I need to do to keep myself happy or occupied. I have found this is true. I do not know if tradesmen are "scanners" but I have found myself to be one and I have found myself looking at the trades recently. The entire time I have avoided them for these exact reasons. However, with the pandemic I think what you said about being independent and just taking jobs on your own is the route trades were heading and are now kind of forced to be. As you said no one with the right mind or strong enough will is going to settle for little and put up with a lot.
Some type of Concierge Trades Jobs (look into the show "royal pains") is really where I think a lot of entrepreneurial/trade types are going to end up because of this. And really it is a good thing because its going to help bring in what the new economy is going to look like. It is going to be chaotic but it will end up being better for more people rather than the lucky few.
@@SmokeyLove-vt4xd hey, thank you for contributing. But I was having some trouble understanding what you were saying. Such as “scanners”. Could you elaborate more on your point so I may have a better understanding?
@@aiyogarage Yeah, thanks for the reply! “Scanners” is actually a concept made by barbara sher. It is something she came up with when she was trying to help people who found themselves not being able to finish what they started or felt unable to commit to an occupation or even reading a book.
I study Psychology and I always find it interesting when you observe similarities in people. Especially when you are learning new subjects unrelated to what you were doing previously.
I am not saying this is what you were talking about but that boredom you mentioned made me think of this sort of personality type (even though its not an official type lol). Also, not all people who seem like scanners are scanners. Its really not important either way its just something Id be interested in finding more data about.
Which brings forth the question, if the person that feels bored as an apprentice has bad pay but was always engaged in the work, such as constantly learning/ working on new projects. Instead of doing the same thing over and over like you mentioned. Would that make up for the pay in the early stages?
Also, the main reason I brought it up was to in some way, point out that this was a reality and you were pretty valid with everything you said. Especially as someone with no experience in the field yet, I can tell what you were saying was right on the nose. Being a retail worker thats why you see people quit all the time for the same reasons just to do the same thing elsewhere.
My point about concierge work was that people will now look for independent contractors/tradesmen to fulfill work and big corps will really need to step up pay but this will come at the cost of higher qualifications. Like you said about that cert (no idea what it is) it really wasnt any real guarantee (like anything in life) of the quality of the work you would get. So is there really any consistency? I think thats why you find it better to find your own work, which I think others have seen becoming more of the case.
Sorry for the long response. Especially if it feels like you didnt get any clarification or anything really new from it lol
also they are dying because of these jealous as old men not trying to teach young men what they know just so they can continue to be more valuable so at the end of the day the trades are going to die because of lack of sharing knowledge
Totally agree. Well said.
I think he mentions pay, but right, he didn't focus intensely on it. Your vid does a better job of that. Throughout history, getting resources is what motivates people. These days, the trades simply aren't offering young people sufficient motivation to enter.
This is not a racist comment at all, but why do you think the southern border is still open? Social engineering sir.
Has nothing to do with the video. Post your own border video if that’s what you want to talk about.
@@johnsradios484 ahh, so you don’t know what’s been happening since Ronald Raygun.
@@markh3279 you can’t even spell lol😂
@@Killerrob-rn3os which word that I misspell for you
@@markh3279 Reagan
three words, seven figure salaries. If the keyboard rapists in the IT earn 200,300k and up in cushy office jobs or work from home then the tradesmen should earn atleast 2-3 times that. 100 bucks an hour should be minimum for aprentices, 200+ bucks for experienced tradesmen. You pay peanuts you get monkiez.
You mention all of your experience throughout college and different job positions, but you claim that The Honest Carpenter is a fake because he pivoted from being just a carpenter to a host of a RUclips show after a knee injury. I'm pretty sure he mentioned his knee injury in the very video that you "responded" to.
In fact, he mentions the pay as well. He mentions that people tell him "Carpenters just shouldn't cost more than $20/hr" or something like that. I agreed with his video entirely, and I don't understand what you think you refuted here. Both this video and his bring up a lot of the same points, yours just talks about yourself extensively and gets more nihilistic.
And why not go from engineering technician to engineer?
Oh I don't have anything against the honest carpenter and I don't think he's a fake. I just think he missed the biggest point about the pay being crap and usually working conditions are unfavorable.
I just not a new engineering tech job. I'll have to spend some time at my new company to work my way up to engineer.
@@aiyogarage
I'm a new engineering tech at a company as well, much safer than my coworkers in actual trades.
I think The Carpenter made more than one video. There's one where he mentions that master-level Carpenters are capped at like $35 or something and I consider that too low for any trade tbh
@@fosyay1780 oh congrats! Yes I agree that $35 an hour for a master of your craft is much too low. But it's an unfortunate situation where someone is always willing to do it for less. Its a billing war, not a quality war. It's my personal belief that trade wages will continue to decline. And I honestly don't see a solution insight. I imagine they'll probably just import workers at some point to do the trades.. I'm honestly not sure.
@@aiyogarage
Another thing I bet they'll try doing is just 3D printing everything that nobody on the crew can make by hand. The trades are just going to prefab and no repairs will happen
@@aiyogarage Pay is a simple matter of supply and demand. The supply of trades people increases every day by the thousands at the border. If you care about the trades, don't support the open border policy of one political party! Your union leaders are doing fine, maybe it's time to re-examine the system you're in.
Work is for immigrants…… always has been……
I really disagree with that statement.