What infuriates me is that all these companies had no problem giving Mike Rowe on-the-job training when the cameras were rolling, yet refuse to hire motivated, able-bodied adults who don’t meet the ever growing list of qualifications and years of experience for an entry level job. Companies just don’t train people anymore
@@stevedavenport1202 Why would they train locals when they can import foreign workers, get subsidies for their wages paid for my the taxpayer, and pay the newer people peanuts? The damage to civilization happened generations ago.
Maybe it's where you are but it's not a problem in the trades where I am. My company just brought on over the summer a 17 year old high school kid to carry my tool bag and learn before he goes to trade school and they paid him $20/hr to do it. The last 3 companies I worked for including my current one would hire people with zero experience and train them.
Most companies want to hire as few people as they can. They expect them to bring Einstein's brains, superhuman endurance and unswerving loyalty to the workplace but expect them to work for a stingy paycheck with no benefits.
@piptyson5512 if it hasn't tripled since 20 years ago then it has not kept up with inflation. Maybe it's kept up with the modified lie they tell us inflation is at. But they cook the numbers to prevent us from rioting
Went to Job Corps in the mid 70s, became a heavy equipment. Operator and certified welder at no expense to myself. Blessed my life immensely and I had a blast in my career.
Here the average carpenter makes 64000 bucks a year, the average house is 525000 bucks. Rent is about 1500 bucks a month for a one bedroom apartment. It wasn’t until after 2008 that companies started giving us health insurance and one week a year vacation. The builders won’t pay a decent wage wage you can buy a house and raise a family on. Right now they are hiring unqualified and often illegal workers and building the worst housing I have ever seen
because there are too many guys from south of the border that have come into the USA and many of them are experienced auto mechanics who will work for minimum wage .
I remember 20 yrs ago when our dealer rate was $80 an HR a really good tech could make just about half the labor rate per flagged hour. Now the dealer rates in my area are up to $200 an HR and they want to pay techs $5hr more than 20yrs ago.
@@jrs4ex yeah man I remember those days. Making 60 hours Monday thru Friday 8 to 5. Now we gotta do extended hours and rotate Saturdays and barely make 35 hours a week. Im about done with it.
@@marleonetti7 lol it's funny you say that my apprentice is a Mexican kid. Born her tho to legit legal immigrant parents. He's a good kid. May not make it flat rate but still nice guy. Really appreciates America
I agree that getting rid of shop classes was a very bad thing. Well I took most of the shop classes, 3 years of auto shop which I liked the best (motor head). Graduated HS went to an automotive trade school for a year and started making a living right away. I retired last year at 61 and ALL of my friends that went to college are still working! Also I have many vehicles that I would not have had because I can work on them. Much respect for Mike Rowe!
Amen Bro. retired Union Roofer wich is also mechanic if on job site PU, 2 ton lift and dump trucks, cranes. powered equip. Leaking spigot on water cooler. As well as first aid cert. I still do my own mechanicing out of necissaty, and self reliance. I loved the Bro. Hood and us retirees doing just fine.
I’m a carpenter who went into the trade 36 years ago. When I started carpenters in the union were getting paid $22.50 an hour in 1988. When I work hourly I get paid $35 an hour . Year over year that is a 34 cent an hour raise. I prefer to work by the piece, it pays better. Skilled labor is grossly underpaid
My nephew was told to go to college by his parents. He went and hated school. He quit and started working for an electrician. He’s doing great in this field
@@shawnbabb5349 I'm a retired mechanic (age 62) and quit state college after one year in mechanical engineering. Worst decision of my life but I was young with no one to mentor me and no push from my parents. It was assumed at the time that hard work is all one needed. No, not really.
I agree with a lot of other comments, the main reason there’s a shortage in employees is because most companies don’t want to give people a livable wage
nonsense. If you acquire the skills you get paid. If you show desire, you get paid well. So many today do not put forth the effort. They stay among the lowest paid.
@@apologist1 it’s not nonsense. I’m not talking about highly skilled professions.. it’s regular jobs like food service, clothing stores etc that have barely raised their wages when cost of living has basically doubled
I've seen it first hand. A master electrician won't take a job unless they can make 1000s on it and have some slept do the work for $200. Greed runs our economy. He forgets to mention.... you need to work for yourself in the trades.
@@chamberlainpwc I learned decades ago that retail doesn't pay. It never has. If a person's ambitions never take them past retail then that's on them. Skilled professions earn more because they have a skill worth $$$. Just how much skill does it take to serve food and run a cash register? That's why it'll never pay much. Leave those jobs to young adults who are just entering the workforce.
I grew up before social media really took over. Did a lot of stuff with my hands: fixed engines, grew a watermelon patch, built tree houses and log cabins. Later on I moved to the city where I ended up spending more time digitally. I can say that time spent in front of a screen generally has had a negative effect on my drive and outlook on life. General doing stuff with your hands is more fulfilling. I feel bad for kids growing up in screen only environment. It's important to get outside and do stuff.
At 50 i took the plunge into the trades. Just started my heavy equipment operator training this week. I was an operations Supervisor in a large warehouse. Automation will soon end many warehouse jobs. Mike I have always enjoyed your shows. Thanks for your dedication over the years and you are making a big difference and much more than you know. I live in Canada by the way.🇨🇦
Here's my problem. I'm a Custodian at a city high school. I am responsible for fixing everything, electrical, plumbing, carpentry. I make $20 an hour & so does the night shift cleaning crew. Why?
thats the story here in oklahoma, they offer 16-18/hr for a jack of all trades and alot of guys accept it. trades will always be looked down upon if guys keep taking junk pay and doing good work.
If you know what you're worth then go get what you're worth. If people didn't accept that pay they could pay those wages. There is no reward staying at a job more than 5 years unless they're properly compensating you.
@@adamtheheavyequipmentmechanic Agree I retired in public schools here in Oklahoma. 20💰hour. 35 years. Small pension social security. Still working part time 67 years old. Just starting my body is starting to ease up aching bad.
@@michaelschaefer5014 I don’t believe that for one second. Anything trump says is a lie. Even John Bolton was on TV the other day and said Trump doesn’t know truth from lies…
And firing because of a dispute with their brother or son. Same guy getting fired for that can’t get hired somewhere else because they passed him up for… a son of my brother
Trades don’t pay enough to raise a family . I’ve been doing this for forty years and still working and always worry about paying the bills . People don’t want to pay you what your worth .
My trade has put 5 people through college and 3 more left. If smart and frugal there is plenty of $$ to be made in the trades. You want your biggest raise? Control your spending
Woodshop, metal shop and auto shop, took all of these classes. I didn't go into those fields of work but boy has that knowledge and skills served me well.
There are some companies that are not willing to train you. They expect you to come work for them and they just send you on your way and they have to do absolutely nothing. I'm a truck driver. Some companies don't even want to train you to drive a stick shift. Something like that would only take 2 weeks. If companies would be willing to train they would have more jobs filled
I was a tool an die maker in ct an did a apprenticeship at pwa. Utc after 20 years me an my co workers. Approx 350 people got layed off. My job got out sourced to non union shops a foreign countries. I had 5 years of recall. They offered me my old job for half the pay I didn't go back. Then because I was layed off an couldn't retire my pension was 600 a month witch I couldn't take till 62 years of age. This country was down hill back in the 90's
But tool and die making is the automation story, as 5 axis+ cnc machines where produced in Taiwan and Korea, the tool rooms full of old dudes with grey hair was next, replaced by CAD and CAM, and someone yo run the machines. The CNC repairman however? Can't get enough, metrologists? Need them badly for your 2.5m makino cnc with pallet changers and auto washers running parts.
HR 4444 killed the American jobs introduced by a republican from Texas roll call vote 2/3 of republicans yes 1/3 democrats yes signed into law by G W Bush in 2001. China trade bill-----How do i know Wayne Smith Detroit News Ret. that's how I know.
You should have just accepted that your profession was replaced by superior automation, and transferred your ability to work with tools to another profession, but your union mentality lead you to believe the company owed you a job at some arbitrary high wage set by the union. Its your doing man.
The unions buried US manufacturing, saddling our manufacturing sector with toxic, unpayable pensions, wages that exceed professional, and the inability to increase productivity by removing the incompetent. Should we be surprised these crippled companies couldn't compete with Japan?
I spent a few hours with Mr. Rowe at one of the locations he was filming his show. What a truly down to earth and friendly person. His film crew were great people also, what they would do to film for the show was amazing.
hate to tell ya but, that whole film crew makes ridiculous wages because they're part of the union. Of course what they would do for the show is amazing - you had to know someone to get in but, once you're in, you're golden.
I've never made a penny from either of my 2 bachelor's degrees. Earning a living as a nurse for the past 31 years. My son chose to become a welder and with 2 years of experience, he now makes almost the same wage I do today.
Here’s why…I hit highschool in 2003 and when I was in grade 8 the system here was that in grade 8 you didn’t pick your elective courses you took a term of each foods, sewing, woodworking and metalworking…the I grade 9 you picked 2…but it gave everyone a taste of something they didn’t know they might like..I ended up loving foods class because I got to learn to cook stuff my family didn’t eat and I could eat in class 😂..do you know how many girls ended up taking wood or metal, I watched one make her own gold pendant for a necklace. It was great to see.. but as far as I know that’s gone now. Now kids come out of grade 7 having never mowed the lawn or done the dishes or helping build their grandparents retirement house.. and they are expected to make an intelligent decision on what they’d like to do…
We are paying apprentices 17.50 an hour and making them supply their own hand tools. We’re setting them up to fail that’s why they’re not here. Especially when our cashier makes $19 an hour at a Chick-fil-A.
So right… Was a stone cutter for 25 years and was so happy and proud of what I accomplished, I had to stop for health reasons and became a sales representative, I am still struggling to find my place Miss it so much
No rich guys talking about this needed...... WAGES. one word. Pay people a living wage. People are not willing to work a hard job and barely scrape by. I wouldn't want to be a young person in this economy.
Mike Rowe never work in trade he was in acting school he made 250k an episode on dirty job Anyone would do that !! I appreciate him shedding light on trades but people are realizing that unless you work for your self you get used and broken down and then can’t barely move in your 50s.
Also, the more people that join a labor pool, the more wages are supressed by saturation. I'd imagine that's a big reason employers want more in the trades... so they don't have to keep raising wages to attract a limited amount of available workers.
These companies claim they are desperate to fill these jobs, and yet require ridiculous degrees and ten years experience, etc. To be a General manager at Jack in the Box you need a college degree, ridiculous!
Exactly I wanted to learn and work as a construction electrician with a union apprenticeship after graduating high school. It never materialized due to economic conditions. I went into the military until I retired. I went into public safety until retirement. Now I am receiving social security benefits and am retired, having never worked as a construction electrician. In this way the American dream is dead. Fortunately the military and public safety had defined benefit retirement. Welcome to ‘Merica.
25 years ago I was a facilities manager. I joined the military, got 3 degrees, and recently left a job I was told I am not qualified for despite over a decade experience. 3 months in I was promoted to Systems Administrstor and given a 2 dollar an hour increase. With the bump I was making the same amount I made in the year 2000 as a 19 yo. I spent 25 years trying to gain a skill. Then I quit my job for many reasons but the pay was one of them. They offered to keep me on as a consultant. Now I make 3 times what they paid me as an employee.
Here in Brazil we have a similar problem. With a dystopian government that is out of touch with reality, hundreds of young people are going to university without any market for them. As a result, there are engineers, economists, lawyers and others who now survive on UBER...!!!
Oh my tools and skills are ready to go! But you can't ask me to know electrical, paint, plumbing, carpentry, hvac,boilers, and own all my own tools for $19 an hour. Cheap labor ain't skilled and skilled labor ain't cheap!
So many young people wanted to 'make difference'. But if you are a HVAC, plummer, electrician, even truck driver whose work makes someone's house livable, keeps the lights on or lets a shore stay open, you have made a difference. And if you are good at your job, you know.
Great article! As a maintenance technician I’m here to tell the world robots and any other automation needs lots of maintenance and adjustments. Although it may reduce production labor there is plenty of opportunity in this field. Also there is a great demand for PLC programmers and Mike is right about this field paying six figures. 25 year technician here, best of luck everyone!
If you can run Allen Bradley software and PLC.. you will have a high paying job with good hours for the next 30 years. Servos, linear actuators and parameters are the future but plc is the now.
@sstritmatter2158 whole different types of issues then. Depending on types of people that you are dealing with? There are a lot of winners out there waiting on you? Different people different problems.
I work in the trades. Marine contracting. Most I work for earn far more than me but are completely helpless to actually do anything other than provide advice in the field they studied. So, actually, they're reliant on me and I'm not reliant on them. People like me handle the majority of their needs, when the other class is reliant largely on others. The financial tables are getting ready to justly turn.
I love that my kids highschool offers vocational options. A student can graduate with a foundation in hvac, car mechanic, plumber, welder, CNA, vet assistant, etc. Some programs they will have the license requirements to work immediately. Some they will need continued education, on job training, or apprentice. But it gives them a great start and options to not get $100k in college debt
In my experience. There is no such thing as a trades shortage. --There is a massive Hiring Shortage; alot of places want people showing up with +5yrs experience, already knowing everything. -Nobody wants to Train. And then they dont want to pay.
When I was 40 I gave up on finding a wife (13 years ago), at the same time I retired, bought me a sailboat and went fishing for the rest of my life. Why would I keep on plumbing, welding and trucking? For what? I'm now living up my savings I had for the family that never happened. Give me one reason why I should work and contribute to a society that hates me because I'm a christian white hetro man? One reason?
He's right. I did it. Was successful and now retired. No expensive education. Had to do 5 years of training while earning a paycheck. The big reward comes when you become a journeyman. It's real. Just put your smartphone down.
@@GothamsFinestit's NOT FORGIVENESS PAL. The American tax payer and more to the point small and independent business owners are paying YOUR DEBT. Pay your own loans.
He has learned about this trade issue! He wants you to know there may be a way for your children to be successful without the hardship of paying for a 4 year college. He’s trying to help people!
I'm overall a fan of Mike, but agree 100%. Mike has an extremely privileged background. It reminds me of war mongering politicians who's kids will never see a hard days work let alone combat in a foreign nation.
I'm a Vocational Technical High School graduate, majored in Machine Shop. I worked as a Tool&Die/Mold Maker most of my life from which I retired early and as some would say...well off. I always made more than my college graduate friends and I have no Student Loan debt. Believe me, without Tool&Die/Mold Makers, Electricians, Carpenters, Plumbers and all the other skilled trades, we would all be back in the stone age tomorrow. Oh, I almost forgot too mention my favorite and best friends trade, Gunsmith.
We are a HVACR Contractor the is Heating Ventilation Air Conditioner Refrigeration . We are Located in Oregon and a training Agent for the Apprenticeship Program. I have been in the trade doing service work and I have never missed a day of work. I do feel that the wages in the skilled trades have not kept up with economy. How ever many do not set goals for the future to train to get maximin pay. Here in Oregon the union scale is as of now $57.92 an hour and non union is $49.98. This goes up yearly. The Hvac trade pays well and you are always learning. There is nothing more fulfilling than say going into a supermarket and fixing the refrigeration or going into an office building and fixing issues with heating and cooling.
@@internetpointsbank Depends on what state you live in. I can send you a couple of videos or look up want to be a vac service tech on you tube great information
Amen to the work you are doing Mike! The goals are all realistic, and the best part of it all is,”IT’S ALL POSITIVELY ENCOURAGING!!” I cannot thank you enough for what you’re doing and even trying to do, &, I ‘m also proud of you for taking the initiative and stepping up, and putting forth the actual effort, to help all these really great people! Keep up the great work, and may God Bless you & all your efforts!
Most Companies hire only their friends, their relatives and if you a total stranger gets hire your chances of going up in a position is low. I've seen it,lived it and done it.
Two things: 1) I chose the phone company (trade job), after a few years after graduation with 4 year degree. Result: 35 year successful career. PS, not easily replaceable, and virtually no competition for my job once experienced, 2) always be aware of how close your job is to the revenue stream .. keep it close.
@@ToddMcDonald-zh4ym my brother is the desk worker of us two. So far he’s a little out of shape and I’m not but I’m 32 years OLD not 32 years IN. I’ll be curious to see how things go, as I get older I may want to estimate for my company instead of being an electrician.
There isn’t a shortage of men who want to work, There is a shortage of companies who treat their men with dignity and respect! During the pandemic, Companies laid off workers while folks caught the bug at work and shared it with their families. The American dream is DEAD. Reap what you sow!🎉🎉🎉🎉
Yes, Dr. peyman, you Expressed your opinion so well ill comment about a small business owner's vulger views of paying a plumber for fixing a burst pipe at 3AM on a Saturday . The bill was through the roof, and I can see clearly now, Mike's point . . . M.B.
I have personally convinced several College students to go into trades. I Came up in my old mans construction company doing everything from specialty concrete pours to High resolution Historic restoration as a Carpenter. There have been many young men that have bailed on economics courses and gone into the construction trades, the more ambitious intending to be project managers. Community colleges should reach out to working trades to add applicable book keeping and management courses to those that are already working in the trade skills. Hybrid thinking creates Synthesis that can proof itself out.
I love this. Im a general contractor and have been in the trades my entire life. Im now pushing 50. I’ve brought many many people into the trades as my apprentices. I have an insane eye for detail. If i could point out a detail about this video, the videography is making it very difficult for me to focus on the subject matter. When Mike is talking it keeps panning away to a shot of the entire studio, or Dr. Phil as he is listening to Mike. It is extremely distracting and takes away from the subject matter. I love this type of format, 2 highly educated guys, sitting in a studio talking about an extremely important topic. The constant changing from one camera to the next makes this almost impossible to watch, for me. I love you both and would love to subscribe to this channel but I can’t watch video in this way. Thank you both for all you do and have done for the humans on this planet. I appreciate you both
I haven’t listened to the whole interview, but no company is interested in filling the blue-collar jobs with a white man over the age of 50. I know SO many older men who are nearing retirement, whose companies either closed cut their jobs. They are defaulting to grocery stores and Home Depot and they have it a lifetime of experience in their trade. This is an age and race bias, but also recency bias; companies think that an older man is behind the times technologically. And there may be some truth to this. But a huge piece is that mid to large size companies are actively not hiring white males. Or they mistreat them when they do hire them. I hear about this a lot. It becomes great sport for the minorities (and women) in charge to mistreat the white men in small and midsize companies. They give them the worst hours and the worst jobs. No one wants to hear that, but it’s true. There are lots of parents like me; I’d rather have my sons live at home and work part time in a career they can be proud of than force them to work in a company where they will be actively maligned.
Companies that continue with those practices will bankrupt themselves. Or chase off their productive workforce. It's a self regulating system and construction and trades companies can't afford to go woke for extended periods.
Retired Electrician Here. Over 4 million earned over 49 years. I loved My Job. I learned a number of other trades along the way. You work side by side with Tool Makers, Machine Repairmen, Pipe fitters, Welders and Mill wrights, day in day out for twenty years, and if you pay attention you get on the job training in all these other Trades. Like all Things in Life. You make your own Success. Those willing to go the Extra Mile Reap the rewards of their Endeavors. To You Old Guys Like Me. Stay Sharp. OLD GUYS RULE! 😎⚡
I started out pumping gas at 18, back when service stations had repair bays. That gave me the opportunity to learn how to do oil and filter changes, tire repairs, wheel balancing, tune-ups and bulb replacements. Eventually I moved on to a new car dealership parts department where I gained computer knowledge and picked up even more mechanical skills from listening to the repair techs talking about what they were working on. From there I became an automotive technical editor, which combined my keen interest in books and the written word with my Gearhead knowledge. Over the long haul I never became wealthy, but by being able to perform the bulk of my own automotive maintenance and repairs I was able to save a considerable portion of my earnings and invest in stocks that pay dividends. Life is what you make it, and I'm happy with what life and my jobs have done for me.
I was skill trades for many years and retired at 53 because I had enough. I could actually go back to work at 68, I am very healthy, but Uncle Sam will rip me off from taxes so I will stay retired and happy.
Exactly, the actual intentions of these whining employers and tax regulations dont match the realities of what is expected or demanded, none of it makes sense because in reality these companies want everything for nothing.
For what it’s worth, an amusing-interesting anecdote. A young man in my neighborhood went to votech and is an electrician. We live on the East Coast, soon after graduation he got a job in San Diego. Worked there for a while, came home and worked locally. Spoke to his dad the other day. Now he’s working in Hawaii, close to Wakiki Beach. Not too shabby for a young guy.
My dad was a high voltage electrician back in the 60's and 70's. He gained that knowledge by going to night school(trade school), after work in the evenings. It didn't cost very much, and he earned around 3-4 times more than minimum wage. Today that would be around 22-23 $ an hour. On that income back then, my parents owned their home and both vehicles. Had a small retirement, and no credit cards. Today making equivalent to the same, you are pay check to pay check, with no retirement and loaded with debt. Companies want a lot for a little... it's just that simple. They're just plain greedy, neither do they care about their employees future or well being. I know that every company isn't like that, but the vast majority of them are.
That's the basic idea behind unskilled ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT warm bodies being used in construction. Instead of a full crew of genuine skilled trades personnel, they get only a hand full of journeymen surrounded by a crowd of unskilled cheap labor ILLEGALS. That's the formula!
I spent most of my working life working for a software company that sold CNC programming software. My primary job was training programmers to use the software. In 30 years we were never able to meet the market demand for skilled programmers. This does not require a degree and pays 6 figures. Situation hasn’t changed since I retired.
Spent several decades designing, commissioning and operating data centers. The demand for data center techs is high, pays well and doesn't require a 4 year degree. Can't fill the slots.
Seasoned tradesmen here 🙋 don’t believe everything they say, I’ve been unemployed for months because work is not always stable they don’t know that. I wish the fed would give more unemployment benefits for the trades because our job goal is to work ourselves out of work until the next one starts. So please consider your options if you’re going in to the trades learn something else or you’ll be fighting you spouse while unemployed and consequently stressed out.
As I am listening and specifically @7:00 when the film of people going about their jobs played, I am considering all the people I encounter in numerous stores I shop in to acquire the goods for my business. I am smiling and feel gratitude towards them for helping me accomplish what I do.
"The army of angry acronyms" BOOM. Love this exchange of thoughts on the work place, work ethics, and the nonsense of pushing high schoolers to go to college without any specific career path in mind. Picking a 'major' without any research or thought put into whether that major will provide a high-paying job or the likelihood of getting a job in a particular field is as asinine as it gets. It's downright cruel, and sets our YAs up for failure. Not to mention our country.
We need to provide trade schools accessible to everyone, in every income & situation. Yes, need to bring back shop class in schools too. Giving people a useful skill, in a job we can take pride in.
I wouldn’t recommend working in welding to anyone. I left working at the bank to pay for welding school out of pocket. I’ve been in welding for a few years & i gotta say it was a huge mistake to leave banking. Most welding shop jobs are everywhere, underpaid and overworked. Not too mention the high health risk with cancer & other issues that comes with the job. Wayyy too many welding jobs start below $20 and even the ones that start at $20 to $24 are still underpaid for the skill and knowledge it takes to weld. I’ve welded structural aluminum & steel with mig. Rn I’m welding with robots, mild steel and it’s underpaid. Not worth the toll it takes on my body, lungs and eyes. Tbh I wouldn’t recommend welding to anyone u less they are looking to become a welding engineer.
My fiancé is a biologist. She works for a billion dollar company and makes around 65k. I think she's underpaid. She's the most intelligent, hardworking person I know. The CEO only makes over 10 million a year, not including his millions in stocks.
Ive been plumbing for 28 yrs just staring make over 100,000 /yr on 40 hrs a week Paid for all the of the kids thru college paid for. Yes i do extra work when where. Ive told may kids that i hate laziness so if their hours are there, I’ll work and somebody else loses out on the hours$$$$
You've hit the nail on the head! Every skilled line of work is supposed to have people who start out as low level assistants who gain experience on the job while working under full fledged personnel!
Single mother raised, woke feminist school. Get out asap. Trade seems it. Work sites knock 3pm then off to night school for high school.have a $100k salary by 18, university is only 6 months a year. Go to uni earning a k a week. F these feminists
Being in a trade is useless unless your independent. The real problem in this country is them teaching you only how to get a JOB and be an employee. They never teach you how to be independent because thats not what works for them. Learn a trade, be independent. Its life changing. Teach your kids independence regardless whether they get a college degree or learn a trade.
Promoting trade work is great, and I'm sure it's paying off for you as the new hype. However besides a few niche areas the basic work is NOT paying the 6 figures you promote. Yes you will work, yes you can find work if your not useless. You will nor starve. But 6 figures, no, that is for the owner of the place you're working for. More like 50K.
The trades are a pathway, it is your determination, ambition, and industriouness that will propel you to the higher levels. The dilema of employee vs employer is always going to exist. The low hanging fruit isn't going to satisfy.
that's the dirty secret... intentionally driving the cost of living upwards to make it virtually impossible to have these careers and be able to raise a family or plan for the future. The "government" moves in to the gap then....
Fantastic video 👍 It is true that the education system is failing America. Yes, one CAN make a good living in the trades. IF you want to work. To many young people are not willing to work.
I'm 57 and can't drive a nail in straight. I have a handyman and several guys in the trades on retainer!!! These people make great $$ and will always be needed. Forget the Fine Arts or Gender Studies "degree"
Jim, the people that complain about not being able to make a living in the trades! Are the type of people that would not do well in any business, there are low end workers and complainers in every industry.
What infuriates me is that all these companies had no problem giving Mike Rowe on-the-job training when the cameras were rolling, yet refuse to hire motivated, able-bodied adults who don’t meet the ever growing list of qualifications and years of experience for an entry level job. Companies just don’t train people anymore
Well, tough on them. If they need people, they should train them.
@@stevedavenport1202 Why would they train locals when they can import foreign workers, get subsidies for their wages paid for my the taxpayer, and pay the newer people peanuts?
The damage to civilization happened generations ago.
Maybe it's where you are but it's not a problem in the trades where I am. My company just brought on over the summer a 17 year old high school kid to carry my tool bag and learn before he goes to trade school and they paid him $20/hr to do it. The last 3 companies I worked for including my current one would hire people with zero experience and train them.
@@keldon_champion its a real rarity these days...
@@zachroberts1988can you please tell me the trade you are in? Thank you if you do!
There’s no skills shortage. There’s a shortage of skilled labor prepared to work for unskilled labor wages.
Most companies want to hire as few people as they can. They expect them to bring Einstein's brains, superhuman endurance and unswerving loyalty to the workplace but expect them to work for a stingy paycheck with no benefits.
Pay is fair where I live. It's keeping up with the inflation.
Truth
@piptyson5512 if it hasn't tripled since 20 years ago then it has not kept up with inflation.
Maybe it's kept up with the modified lie they tell us inflation is at. But they cook the numbers to prevent us from rioting
When everyone is getting paid $ 15 an hour the world will be so much better. Cops, carpenters, French fry cooks, they are all the same skill level.
Went to Job Corps in the mid 70s, became a heavy equipment. Operator and certified welder at no expense to myself. Blessed my life immensely and I had a blast in my career.
emphasis in "mid 70s" these days unless you have a MASSIVE support system you cant even get by on $20 an hour
@@cassaxiom8019 and his job makes far above that nowadays as does a lot of trades.
Here the average carpenter makes 64000 bucks a year, the average house is 525000 bucks. Rent is about 1500 bucks a month for a one bedroom apartment. It wasn’t until after 2008 that companies started giving us health insurance and one week a year vacation. The builders won’t pay a decent wage wage you can buy a house and raise a family on. Right now they are hiring unqualified and often illegal workers and building the worst housing I have ever seen
Right on. You cannot move into those industries because they do not pay.
Where?
@@garyfrancis6193 PHX AZ
64k ain't worth wrecking your back over.. you get a serious chronic injury and you'll can be useless and homeless before you hit retirement.
@@TL-rh1lfyup, the moment you are worn out you’re tossed out. Most trades wear you out quickly. Trades are just not worth wrecking yourself so fast.
As a 35 year flat rate auto tech, they don't want to pay....
because there are too many guys from south of the border that have come into the USA and many of them are experienced auto mechanics who will work for minimum wage .
Flat Rate ruins good Technicians.
I remember 20 yrs ago when our dealer rate was $80 an HR a really good tech could make just about half the labor rate per flagged hour. Now the dealer rates in my area are up to $200 an HR and they want to pay techs $5hr more than 20yrs ago.
@@jrs4ex yeah man I remember those days. Making 60 hours Monday thru Friday 8 to 5. Now we gotta do extended hours and rotate Saturdays and barely make 35 hours a week. Im about done with it.
@@marleonetti7 lol it's funny you say that my apprentice is a Mexican kid. Born her tho to legit legal immigrant parents. He's a good kid. May not make it flat rate but still nice guy. Really appreciates America
Who ever thought, years ago that Dr. Phil and Mike Rowe would be sitting together speaking about these issues? What a world.
I agree that getting rid of shop classes was a very bad thing. Well I took most of the shop classes, 3 years of auto shop which I liked the best (motor head). Graduated HS went to an automotive trade school for a year and started making a living right away. I retired last year at 61 and ALL of my friends that went to college are still working! Also I have many vehicles that I would not have had because I can work on them. Much respect for Mike Rowe!
Amen Bro. retired Union Roofer wich is also mechanic if on job site PU, 2 ton lift and dump trucks, cranes. powered equip. Leaking spigot on water cooler. As well as first aid cert. I still do my own mechanicing out of necissaty, and self reliance. I loved the Bro. Hood and us retirees doing just fine.
Look at this! Two guys who don't live in reality telling us all how to live in reality!
More real than you Goober
I’m a carpenter who went into the trade 36 years ago. When I started carpenters in the union were getting paid $22.50 an hour in 1988. When I work hourly I get paid $35 an hour . Year over year that is a 34 cent an hour raise. I prefer to work by the piece, it pays better. Skilled labor is grossly underpaid
My nephew was told to go to college by his parents. He went and hated school. He quit and started working for an electrician. He’s doing great in this field
That’s great! I want my oldest grandson to be open to this or to at least know his choices. He’s about to enter his HS senior year.
So glad that he tried college. I hope that he put in 100 percent when he tried and does not regret his decision when he is 40.
@@shawnbabb5349 I'm a retired mechanic (age 62) and quit state college after one year in mechanical engineering. Worst decision of my life but I was young with no one to mentor me and no push from my parents. It was assumed at the time that hard work is all one needed. No, not really.
@@shawnbabb5349 He didn’t put much effort into college. He picked a party school and partied
@@beccalove8791 Chico State? LOL
I agree with a lot of other comments, the main reason there’s a shortage in employees is because most companies don’t want to give people a livable wage
nonsense. If you acquire the skills you get paid. If you show desire, you get paid well. So many today do not put forth the effort. They stay among the lowest paid.
@@apologist1 it’s not nonsense. I’m not talking about highly skilled professions.. it’s regular jobs like food service, clothing stores etc that have barely raised their wages when cost of living has basically doubled
I've seen it first hand. A master electrician won't take a job unless they can make 1000s on it and have some slept do the work for $200. Greed runs our economy. He forgets to mention.... you need to work for yourself in the trades.
The dumbing down is real with you
@@chamberlainpwc I learned decades ago that retail doesn't pay. It never has. If a person's ambitions never take them past retail then that's on them. Skilled professions earn more because they have a skill worth $$$. Just how much skill does it take to serve food and run a cash register? That's why it'll never pay much. Leave those jobs to young adults who are just entering the workforce.
Don’t forget about the ghost jobs that companies post with no intention of filling them.
I grew up before social media really took over. Did a lot of stuff with my hands: fixed engines, grew a watermelon patch, built tree houses and log cabins. Later on I moved to the city where I ended up spending more time digitally. I can say that time spent in front of a screen generally has had a negative effect on my drive and outlook on life. General doing stuff with your hands is more fulfilling. I feel bad for kids growing up in screen only environment. It's important to get outside and do stuff.
Right ON!
At 50 i took the plunge into the trades. Just started my heavy equipment operator training this week. I was an operations Supervisor in a large warehouse. Automation will soon end many warehouse jobs. Mike I have always enjoyed your shows. Thanks for your dedication over the years and you are making a big difference and much more than you know. I live in Canada by the way.🇨🇦
Here's my problem. I'm a Custodian at a city high school. I am responsible for fixing everything, electrical, plumbing, carpentry. I make $20 an hour & so does the night shift cleaning crew. Why?
thats the story here in oklahoma, they offer 16-18/hr for a jack of all trades and alot of guys accept it. trades will always be looked down upon if guys keep taking junk pay and doing good work.
Are you certified in those trades?
If you know what you're worth then go get what you're worth. If people didn't accept that pay they could pay those wages. There is no reward staying at a job more than 5 years unless they're properly compensating you.
Because, until lately, there were many people willing to do that work for that pay.
@@adamtheheavyequipmentmechanic
Agree I retired in public schools here in Oklahoma. 20💰hour.
35 years.
Small pension social security.
Still working part time 67 years old.
Just starting my body is starting to ease up aching bad.
There's not a skills shortage. There's a pay and benefits shortage.
Government taxes on businesses
@KJJ782 trump gave them a huge tax cut. So probably not the government squeezing businesses
@@michaelschaefer5014 has nothing to do with trump. Stop with the propaganda. It's greed. Plain and simple.
Bingo!
@@michaelschaefer5014 I don’t believe that for one second. Anything trump says is a lie. Even John Bolton was on TV the other day and said Trump doesn’t know truth from lies…
A lot of skilled guys out there waiting and applying but companies are hiring “friend of my friend” or “son of my brother”. THIS is the truth.
And firing because of a dispute with their brother or son. Same guy getting fired for that can’t get hired somewhere else because they passed him up for… a son of my brother
Nepotism and cronyism
I live in A suburb of Detroit. Everyone I know who works for the big 3 , had a employee help them get in.
I live in NY State
The largest employer in NY State is actually NY State.
To be a licensed plumber, electrician, hvac, you HAVE to go through an apprenticeship. Geez I wonder who gets the apprenticeship and who doesn't?????
Trades don’t pay enough to raise a family . I’ve been doing this for forty years and still working and always worry about paying the bills . People don’t want to pay you what your worth .
You need to ignore the customers who aren't worth your time and focus on the right customers. Let someone else take the crumbs.
Finally. Someone that tells the truth
Amén brotha, tell your kids to go to college and learn a real career that will pay itself because it suck’s to be unemployed
What trade are you in because most trades around me pay more than what college graduates would earn...union pension + 401k
My trade has put 5 people through college and 3 more left. If smart and frugal there is plenty of $$ to be made in the trades. You want your biggest raise? Control your spending
Woodshop, metal shop and auto shop, took all of these classes. I didn't go into those fields of work but boy has that knowledge and skills served me well.
There are some companies that are not willing to train you. They expect you to come work for them and they just send you on your way and they have to do absolutely nothing. I'm a truck driver. Some companies don't even want to train you to drive a stick shift. Something like that would only take 2 weeks. If companies would be willing to train they would have more jobs filled
In the states they dont. Thats why leaving to a better country is the answer. You have a whole world, pick one
they train and train, which is an investment and then the trainee ups and leaves.
@@apologist1 That's part of being a business owner and also having more than a brain stem to make a hiring decision.
@@apologist1 but what if you DONT train them, and they STAY?
@@apologist1 why do they leave?
I was a tool an die maker in ct an did a apprenticeship at pwa. Utc after 20 years me an my co workers. Approx 350 people got layed off. My job got out sourced to non union shops a foreign countries. I had 5 years of recall. They offered me my old job for half the pay I didn't go back. Then because I was layed off an couldn't retire my pension was 600 a month witch I couldn't take till 62 years of age. This country was down hill back in the 90's
But tool and die making is the automation story, as 5 axis+ cnc machines where produced in Taiwan and Korea, the tool rooms full of old dudes with grey hair was next, replaced by CAD and CAM, and someone yo run the machines. The CNC repairman however? Can't get enough, metrologists? Need them badly for your 2.5m makino cnc with pallet changers and auto washers running parts.
Whats pwa, and utc?
HR 4444 killed the American jobs introduced by a republican from Texas roll call vote 2/3 of republicans yes 1/3 democrats yes signed into law by G W Bush in 2001. China trade bill-----How do i know Wayne Smith Detroit News Ret. that's how I know.
You should have just accepted that your profession was replaced by superior automation, and transferred your ability to work with tools to another profession, but your union mentality lead you to believe the company owed you a job at some arbitrary high wage set by the union. Its your doing man.
The unions buried US manufacturing, saddling our manufacturing sector with toxic, unpayable pensions, wages that exceed professional, and the inability to increase productivity by removing the incompetent. Should we be surprised these crippled companies couldn't compete with Japan?
I spent a few hours with Mr. Rowe at one of the locations he was filming his show. What a truly down to earth and friendly person. His film crew were great people also, what they would do to film for the show was amazing.
hate to tell ya but, that whole film crew makes ridiculous wages because they're part of the union. Of course what they would do for the show is amazing - you had to know someone to get in but, once you're in, you're golden.
I've never made a penny from either of my 2 bachelor's degrees. Earning a living as a nurse for the past 31 years. My son chose to become a welder and with 2 years of experience, he now makes almost the same wage I do today.
Same here, both my degrees were pointless.
Here’s why…I hit highschool in 2003 and when I was in grade 8 the system here was that in grade 8 you didn’t pick your elective courses you took a term of each foods, sewing, woodworking and metalworking…the I grade 9 you picked 2…but it gave everyone a taste of something they didn’t know they might like..I ended up loving foods class because I got to learn to cook stuff my family didn’t eat and I could eat in class 😂..do you know how many girls ended up taking wood or metal, I watched one make her own gold pendant for a necklace. It was great to see.. but as far as I know that’s gone now. Now kids come out of grade 7 having never mowed the lawn or done the dishes or helping build their grandparents retirement house.. and they are expected to make an intelligent decision on what they’d like to do…
We are paying apprentices 17.50 an hour and making them supply their own hand tools. We’re setting them up to fail that’s why they’re not here. Especially when our cashier makes $19 an hour at a Chick-fil-A.
Blessed to hear and watch two national treasures team up to make our country a better place. God bless you both bless all your efforts.
So right…
Was a stone cutter for 25 years and was so happy and proud of what I accomplished, I had to stop for health reasons and became a sales representative, I am still struggling to find my place
Miss it so much
Been an electrician for almost 30 years and I'm so happy to have chosen this path. My son is 15 and wants to be a welder. Couldn't be more proud..
The overwhelming majority of those open jobs do not pay a livable wage!
I'm all for it,!! Mike Rowe has always been great!
No rich guys talking about this needed...... WAGES. one word. Pay people a living wage. People are not willing to work a hard job and barely scrape by. I wouldn't want to be a young person in this economy.
Trades are a living wages dude.
@@alelectric2767 in your world, sure
@@jaylonhenderson359 in a lot of peoples world. What are you doin? Nothin Im sure. Well bit&hing I guess is what yer doin.
Mike Rowe never work in trade he was in acting school he made 250k an episode on dirty job Anyone would do that !! I appreciate him shedding light on trades but people are realizing that unless you work for your self you get used and broken down and then can’t barely move in your 50s.
Amen brother. Read my post.
And yet he lives in the most expensive area in the US.
@@shawnbabb5349 please tag me if you can can’t find it
@@shawnbabb5349
Also, the more people that join a labor pool, the more wages are supressed by saturation. I'd imagine that's a big reason employers want more in the trades... so they don't have to keep raising wages to attract a limited amount of available workers.
These companies claim they are desperate to fill these jobs, and yet require ridiculous degrees and ten years experience, etc. To be a General manager at Jack in the Box you need a college degree, ridiculous!
Exactly I wanted to learn and work as a construction electrician with a union apprenticeship after graduating high school. It never materialized due to economic conditions. I went into the military until I retired. I went into public safety until retirement. Now I am receiving social security benefits and am retired, having never worked as a construction electrician. In this way the American dream is dead. Fortunately the military and public safety had defined benefit retirement. Welcome to ‘Merica.
25 years ago I was a facilities manager. I joined the military, got 3 degrees, and recently left a job I was told I am not qualified for despite over a decade experience. 3 months in I was promoted to Systems Administrstor and given a 2 dollar an hour increase. With the bump I was making the same amount I made in the year 2000 as a 19 yo. I spent 25 years trying to gain a skill.
Then I quit my job for many reasons but the pay was one of them. They offered to keep me on as a consultant. Now I make 3 times what they paid me as an employee.
Smh that’s the problem.
And I bet you work much harder for yourself than you did for the employers.
Here in Brazil we have a similar problem. With a dystopian government that is out of touch with reality, hundreds of young people are going to university without any market for them. As a result, there are engineers, economists, lawyers and others who now survive on UBER...!!!
Oh my tools and skills are ready to go! But you can't ask me to know electrical, paint, plumbing, carpentry, hvac,boilers, and own all my own tools for $19 an hour. Cheap labor ain't skilled and skilled labor ain't cheap!
So many young people wanted to 'make difference'. But if you are a HVAC, plummer, electrician, even truck driver whose work makes someone's house livable, keeps the lights on or lets a shore stay open, you have made a difference. And if you are good at your job, you know.
Great article! As a maintenance technician I’m here to tell the world robots and any other automation needs lots of maintenance and adjustments. Although it may reduce production labor there is plenty of opportunity in this field. Also there is a great demand for PLC programmers and Mike is right about this field paying six figures. 25 year technician here, best of luck everyone!
I hope more people follow in your footsteps steps !
Im an automation engineer myself.. i actuslly do have a BSME but didnt need it i learned controls on the job... 150k in South east
If you can run Allen Bradley software and PLC.. you will have a high paying job with good hours for the next 30 years. Servos, linear actuators and parameters are the future but plc is the now.
@@dootdoot1867 servos are modules looped into the plc im confused. But 30 years? Hope so
@@DSNCB919 AI and direct computer connection.
The skilled trades are way underpaid. Management in this country sucks!
work for yourself and you won’t be
@sstritmatter2158 whole different types of issues then. Depending on types of people that you are dealing with? There are a lot of winners out there waiting on you? Different people different problems.
I work in the trades. Marine contracting. Most I work for earn far more than me but are completely helpless to actually do anything other than provide advice in the field they studied. So, actually, they're reliant on me and I'm not reliant on them. People like me handle the majority of their needs, when the other class is reliant largely on others. The financial tables are getting ready to justly turn.
I love that my kids highschool offers vocational options. A student can graduate with a foundation in hvac, car mechanic, plumber, welder, CNA, vet assistant, etc. Some programs they will have the license requirements to work immediately. Some they will need continued education, on job training, or apprentice. But it gives them a great start and options to not get $100k in college debt
That's awesome! But hopefully someone tells the vet techs and auto mechanics that all the other programs pay better.
In my experience.
There is no such thing as a trades shortage.
--There is a massive Hiring Shortage; alot of places want people showing up with +5yrs experience, already knowing everything.
-Nobody wants to Train.
And then they dont want to pay.
YES!
When I was 40 I gave up on finding a wife (13 years ago), at the same time I retired, bought me a sailboat and went fishing for the rest of my life. Why would I keep on plumbing, welding and trucking? For what? I'm now living up my savings I had for the family that never happened. Give me one reason why I should work and contribute to a society that hates me because I'm a christian white hetro man? One reason?
He's right. I did it. Was successful and now retired. No expensive education. Had to do 5 years of training while earning a paycheck. The big reward comes when you become a journeyman. It's real. Just put your smartphone down.
That’s the big issue. Not many people want to get off their phones and get dirty.
@@MrCrossface007 That's not the real issue.
@@MrCrossface007 That's true but it's really always been true to a certain degree.
@@wizzerwiser2056if it isn't THE big issue ita certainly A BIG ISSUE!!!
@@GothamsFinestit's NOT FORGIVENESS PAL. The American tax payer and more to the point small and independent business owners are paying YOUR DEBT. Pay your own loans.
I’m always amazed how people wildly successful in media and entertainment advocate so passionately about a life in the trades for you.
He has learned about this trade issue! He wants you to know there may be a way for your children to be successful without the hardship of paying for a 4 year college. He’s trying to help people!
I'm overall a fan of Mike, but agree 100%. Mike has an extremely privileged background. It reminds me of war mongering politicians who's kids will never see a hard days work let alone combat in a foreign nation.
To be fair his show was him joining in getting dirty on some of the most difficult and unpleasant jobs that exist
The biggest problem is the actual pay they don’t get paid while corporations are making records profits at the hands of these tradesmen.
All while sitting in air conditioning casually opening email and mail.
Dr Phil is no joke telling the truth.
Modern society is too influenced by media and politics! Neither of which has an interest in the stability of human lives and endeavor!
Excellent topic and interview. I am most grateful for your work.
Truth is the pay does not match the labor and effort required to do the job.
And what is the pay to the effort ratio exactly? You’re lazy dude. That’s it in nut shell.
I'm a Vocational Technical High School graduate, majored in Machine Shop. I worked as a Tool&Die/Mold Maker most of my life from which I retired early and as some would say...well off. I always made more than my college graduate friends and I have no Student Loan debt. Believe me, without Tool&Die/Mold Makers, Electricians, Carpenters, Plumbers and all the other skilled trades, we would all be back in the stone age tomorrow. Oh, I almost forgot too mention my favorite and best friends trade, Gunsmith.
We are a HVACR Contractor the is Heating Ventilation Air Conditioner Refrigeration . We are Located in Oregon and a training Agent for the Apprenticeship Program. I have been in the trade doing service work and I have never missed a day of work. I do feel that the wages in the skilled trades have not kept up with economy. How ever many do not set goals for the future to train to get maximin pay. Here in Oregon the union scale is as of now $57.92 an hour and non union is $49.98. This goes up yearly. The Hvac trade pays well and you are always learning. There is nothing more fulfilling than say going into a supermarket and fixing the refrigeration or going into an office building and fixing issues with heating and cooling.
How do I get adopted to the "family"
@@internetpointsbank What state are you in? I can send you some more videos about the trade.
@@internetpointsbank Depends on what state you live in. I can send you a couple of videos or look up want to be a vac service tech on you tube great information
@@integratedairsolutionsllc.9438 Im in Arizona. What videos would you recommend?
Amen to the work you are doing Mike! The goals are all realistic, and the best part of it all is,”IT’S ALL POSITIVELY ENCOURAGING!!” I cannot thank you enough for what you’re doing and even trying to do, &, I ‘m also proud of you for taking the initiative and stepping up, and putting forth the actual effort, to help all these really great people! Keep up the great work, and may God Bless you & all your efforts!
Most Companies hire only their friends, their relatives and if you a total stranger gets hire your chances of going up in a position is low.
I've seen it,lived it and done it.
Two things:
1) I chose the phone company (trade job), after a few years after graduation with 4 year degree. Result: 35 year successful career. PS, not easily replaceable, and virtually no competition for my job once experienced,
2) always be aware of how close your job is to the revenue stream .. keep it close.
Was a machinist for 32 years,Union shop. Pay was average. Job wrecked my body.
Curious, do you think it wrecked your body in a worse way than 32 years at a desk?
@zacharybob4336 hard to say, my brother has done desk work for over 30 years and doesn't have the aches I have, and he's lazy.
@@ToddMcDonald-zh4ym my brother is the desk worker of us two. So far he’s a little out of shape and I’m not but I’m 32 years OLD not 32 years IN. I’ll be curious to see how things go, as I get older I may want to estimate for my company instead of being an electrician.
@@zacharybob4336 Good idea if you can, Time is everything, I really felt it in the last 10 years at work. Old retired guy here.
There isn’t a shortage of men who want to work,
There is a shortage of companies who treat their men with dignity and respect!
During the pandemic,
Companies laid off workers while folks caught the bug at work and shared it with their families.
The American dream is DEAD.
Reap what you sow!🎉🎉🎉🎉
Yes, Dr. peyman, you Expressed your opinion so well ill comment about a small business owner's vulger views of paying a plumber for fixing a burst pipe at 3AM on a Saturday .
The bill was through the roof, and I can see clearly now, Mike's point . . .
M.B.
Jobs are posting but they're not hiring. Myself and other friends are in the same boat
They cherry picking
@@tylerhaynie9142 true
They have to make these jobs more attractive if they want people to take them. Pay people enough and give them good benefits.
The financialization of everything destroyed the ability to make a good living with your hands , fix the currency and you fix the labor shortage
I have personally convinced several College students to go into trades. I Came up in my old mans construction company doing everything from specialty concrete pours to High resolution Historic restoration as a Carpenter. There have been many young men that have bailed on economics courses and gone into the construction trades, the more ambitious intending to be project managers. Community colleges should reach out to working trades to add applicable book keeping and management courses to those that are already working in the trade skills. Hybrid thinking creates Synthesis that can proof itself out.
What a great thing to do Mike. Thanks Dr. Phil for your platform.
Please keep us updated on this foundation monthly.
If the trades were paid what Mike Rowe is paid to talk about a trade shortage…..there would be no shortage
So true!!
I love this. Im a general contractor and have been in the trades my entire life. Im now pushing 50. I’ve brought many many people into the trades as my apprentices. I have an insane eye for detail. If i could point out a detail about this video, the videography is making it very difficult for me to focus on the subject matter. When Mike is talking it keeps panning away to a shot of the entire studio, or Dr. Phil as he is listening to Mike. It is extremely distracting and takes away from the subject matter. I love this type of format, 2 highly educated guys, sitting in a studio talking about an extremely important topic. The constant changing from one camera to the next makes this almost impossible to watch, for me. I love you both and would love to subscribe to this channel but I can’t watch video in this way. Thank you both for all you do and have done for the humans on this planet. I appreciate you both
I haven’t listened to the whole interview, but no company is interested in filling the blue-collar jobs with a white man over the age of 50. I know SO many older men who are nearing retirement, whose companies either closed cut their jobs. They are defaulting to grocery stores and Home Depot and they have it a lifetime of experience in their trade. This is an age and race bias, but also recency bias; companies think that an older man is behind the times technologically. And there may be some truth to this. But a huge piece is that mid to large size companies are actively not hiring white males. Or they mistreat them when they do hire them. I hear about this a lot. It becomes great sport for the minorities (and women) in charge to mistreat the white men in small and midsize companies. They give them the worst hours and the worst jobs. No one wants to hear that, but it’s true. There are lots of parents like me; I’d rather have my sons live at home and work part time in a career they can be proud of than force them to work in a company where they will be actively maligned.
Companies that continue with those practices will bankrupt themselves. Or chase off their productive workforce. It's a self regulating system and construction and trades companies can't afford to go woke for extended periods.
Outstanding! More business owners and governments need to get behind this!
Retired Electrician Here. Over 4 million earned over 49 years. I loved My Job. I learned a number of other trades along the way. You work side by side with Tool Makers, Machine Repairmen,
Pipe fitters, Welders and Mill wrights, day in day out for twenty years, and if you pay attention you get on the job training in all these other Trades.
Like all Things in Life. You make your own Success. Those willing to go the Extra Mile Reap the rewards of their Endeavors. To You Old Guys Like Me. Stay Sharp. OLD GUYS RULE! 😎⚡
I started out pumping gas at 18, back when service stations had repair bays. That gave me the opportunity to learn how to do oil and filter changes, tire repairs, wheel balancing, tune-ups and bulb replacements. Eventually I moved on to a new car dealership parts department where I gained computer knowledge and picked up even more mechanical skills from listening to the repair techs talking about what they were working on. From there I became an automotive technical editor, which combined my keen interest in books and the written word with my Gearhead knowledge.
Over the long haul I never became wealthy, but by being able to perform the bulk of my own automotive maintenance and repairs I was able to save a considerable portion of my earnings and invest in stocks that pay dividends.
Life is what you make it, and I'm happy with what life and my jobs have done for me.
Wonderful Mike.
I was skill trades for many years and retired at 53 because I had enough. I could actually go back to work at 68, I am very healthy, but Uncle Sam will rip me off from taxes so I will stay retired and happy.
you could always go back and work under the table.
Exactly, the actual intentions of these whining employers and tax regulations dont match the realities of what is expected or demanded, none of it makes sense because in reality these companies want everything for nothing.
For what it’s worth, an amusing-interesting anecdote. A young man in my neighborhood went to votech and is an electrician. We live on the East Coast, soon after graduation he got a job in San Diego. Worked there for a while, came home and worked locally. Spoke to his dad the other day. Now he’s working in Hawaii, close to Wakiki Beach. Not too shabby for a young guy.
Everybody is hiring. But nobody is hiring!!
My dad was a high voltage electrician back in the 60's and 70's. He gained that knowledge by going to night school(trade school), after work in the evenings. It didn't cost very much, and he earned around 3-4 times more than minimum wage. Today that would be around 22-23 $ an hour.
On that income back then, my parents owned their home and both vehicles. Had a small retirement, and no credit cards. Today making equivalent to the same, you are pay check to pay check, with no retirement and loaded with debt.
Companies want a lot for a little... it's just that simple. They're just plain greedy, neither do they care about their employees future or well being.
I know that every company isn't like that, but the vast majority of them are.
it blows my mind that there are still construction companies paying close to min wage while they make many millions in profits.
That's the basic idea behind unskilled ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT warm bodies being used in construction. Instead of a full crew of genuine skilled trades personnel, they get only a hand full of journeymen surrounded by a crowd of unskilled cheap labor ILLEGALS. That's the formula!
I spent most of my working life working for a software company that sold CNC programming software. My primary job was training programmers to use the software. In 30 years we were never able to meet the market demand for skilled programmers. This does not require a degree and pays 6 figures. Situation hasn’t changed since I retired.
Spent several decades designing, commissioning and operating data centers. The demand for data center techs is high, pays well and doesn't require a 4 year degree. Can't fill the slots.
@nvus2758 how would one get started?
Seasoned tradesmen here 🙋 don’t believe everything they say, I’ve been unemployed for months because work is not always stable they don’t know that. I wish the fed would give more unemployment benefits for the trades because our job goal is to work ourselves out of work until the next one starts. So please consider your options if you’re going in to the trades learn something else or you’ll be fighting you spouse while unemployed and consequently stressed out.
I have never not had work in 30 years in construction!
@@Anthonycapone8146 I’ve been in the trade for 18 years and is rough out there, sometimes is not what you know but who you know that gets you that job
feast or famine, why I got out of it, these guys have no idea what they are talking about
And what trade is this? Never been out of work in 24 years.
@@alelectric2767 any trade
As I am listening and specifically @7:00 when the film of people going about their jobs played, I am considering all the people I encounter in numerous stores I shop in to acquire the goods for my business. I am smiling and feel gratitude towards them for helping me accomplish what I do.
But you don't want to pay them more.
As a career machinist I can definitely say I’m part of a dying breed
Also under appreciated. Been in the trade for 35 yrs and make 70k. Not bad but noobs are making within 7 dollars
Absolutely correct - shop should never have been pulled from schools.
"The army of angry acronyms" BOOM. Love this exchange of thoughts on the work place, work ethics, and the nonsense of pushing high schoolers to go to college without any specific career path in mind. Picking a 'major' without any research or thought put into whether that major will provide a high-paying job or the likelihood of getting a job in a particular field is as asinine as it gets. It's downright cruel, and sets our YAs up for failure. Not to mention our country.
We need to provide trade schools accessible to everyone, in every income & situation. Yes, need to bring back shop class in schools too. Giving people a useful skill, in a job we can take pride in.
Mike Rowe need to go get a real job and stop telling us what to do.
Not only shop classes pulled out of high school but also colleges.
I wouldn’t recommend working in welding to anyone. I left working at the bank to pay for welding school out of pocket. I’ve been in welding for a few years & i gotta say it was a huge mistake to leave banking. Most welding shop jobs are everywhere, underpaid and overworked. Not too mention the high health risk with cancer & other issues that comes with the job. Wayyy too many welding jobs start below $20 and even the ones that start at $20 to $24 are still underpaid for the skill and knowledge it takes to weld. I’ve welded structural aluminum & steel with mig. Rn I’m welding with robots, mild steel and it’s underpaid. Not worth the toll it takes on my body, lungs and eyes. Tbh I wouldn’t recommend welding to anyone u less they are looking to become a welding engineer.
It's because they're talking about traveling pipe line welder wages as if that's a viable opportunity for the average welder.
Its those heck yeah moments that keep us working with our hands
Iv been a plumber for 18 years and at most iv made 65k a year a joke in todays world
My fiancé is a biologist. She works for a billion dollar company and makes around 65k. I think she's underpaid. She's the most intelligent, hardworking person I know. The CEO only makes over 10 million a year, not including his millions in stocks.
Ive been plumbing for 28 yrs just staring make over 100,000 /yr on 40 hrs a week
Paid for all the of the kids thru college paid for. Yes i do extra work when where.
Ive told may kids that i hate laziness so if their hours are there, I’ll work and somebody else loses out on the hours$$$$
The skills shortage is from consistently wanting incredibly precise experience first day instead of doing any kind of OJT.
You've hit the nail on the head! Every skilled line of work is supposed to have people who start out as low level assistants who gain experience on the job while working under full fledged personnel!
Mike Rowe for President!! Get a trade Young People!!!! Earn as you learn!!!
Single mother raised, woke feminist school. Get out asap. Trade seems it. Work sites knock 3pm then off to night school for high school.have a $100k salary by 18, university is only 6 months a year. Go to uni earning a k a week. F these feminists
No thank you to disinformation!
Being in a trade is useless unless your independent. The real problem in this country is them teaching you only how to get a JOB and be an employee. They never teach you how to be independent because thats not what works for them. Learn a trade, be independent. Its life changing. Teach your kids independence regardless whether they get a college degree or learn a trade.
Promoting trade work is great, and I'm sure it's paying off for you as the new hype. However besides a few niche areas the basic work is NOT paying the 6 figures you promote. Yes you will work, yes you can find work if your not useless. You will nor starve. But 6 figures, no, that is for the owner of the place you're working for. More like 50K.
The trades are a pathway, it is your determination, ambition, and industriouness that will propel you to the higher levels. The dilema of employee vs employer is always going to exist. The low hanging fruit isn't going to satisfy.
You are right on Mike Rowe. 😊😊😊😊
Fortunate me, Time, talent, tools, and skills. Blessed by God!
Take what god gives you and give it back !
No, greedy business owners...no point in doing labor jobs. No thanks. Let you tubers do the hard work
We have similar problems with skill shortages here in England.
that's the dirty secret... intentionally driving the cost of living upwards to make it virtually impossible to have these careers and be able to raise a family or plan for the future. The "government" moves in to the gap then....
Fantastic video 👍 It is true that the education system is failing America.
Yes, one CAN make a good living in the trades. IF you want to work. To many young people are not willing to work.
I'm 57 and can't drive a nail in straight. I have a handyman and several guys in the trades on retainer!!! These people make great $$ and will always be needed. Forget the Fine Arts or Gender Studies "degree"
Jim, the people that complain about not being able to make a living in the trades!
Are the type of people that would not do well in any business, there are low end workers and complainers in every industry.
We workers want the pay, period. If you take care of your workers we come back the next day to take care of you.