workers shortages vs. high unemployment

Moto East Mag
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Moto East Mag
Edited Date/Time 1/24/2012 10:56pm
The electric utility industry is way short of workers. A huge portion of the nuclear industry is set to retire with nobody to replace them. Companies that build transmission lines can't find workers to train. So in times of rampant unemployment we have massive worker shortages.
The issue is Americans can't do difficult, specialized work. anymore We can all operate a computer, an XBox, or a remote control...but how many people can be trained for jobs like climbing a utility pole and working on high voltage power lines, or running a nuclear reactor safely?
This is where foreign countries are killing us...
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CR250Rider
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CR250Rider 9/17/2010 2:18pm
9/17/2010 2:18pm
how many jobs are we talking about here?
dougie
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dougie 9/17/2010 2:23pm
9/17/2010 2:23pm
Back in the Dark Ages when I was in High school I took all the shop classes I could. Metal shop, autoshop, electrical shop, welding, machine shop, drafting. Even in Jr High we had (manditory) wood shop and mechanical drawing) for boys and home ec classes for girls and that was grades 5th -8th grade. Looking back on it I think we were being trained to be a workforce of blue collar workers and homemakers. Now (from what I hear) High schools no longer offer shop classes.
dougie
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dougie 9/17/2010 2:25pm
9/17/2010 2:25pm
Ive been in people garages today and they have either no tools at all or in many cases a hammer, a couple skrew drivers and a box of nails. Maybe a rake and a shovel. Me? Ive got 2 garages and 3 sheds all full to the gills with tools. The times they are a changin' Robert Zimmerman
GoldenState54 9/17/2010 2:26pm
9/17/2010 2:26pm
dougie wrote:
Back in the Dark Ages when I was in High school I took all the shop classes I could. Metal shop, autoshop, electrical shop, welding, machine...
Back in the Dark Ages when I was in High school I took all the shop classes I could. Metal shop, autoshop, electrical shop, welding, machine shop, drafting. Even in Jr High we had (manditory) wood shop and mechanical drawing) for boys and home ec classes for girls and that was grades 5th -8th grade. Looking back on it I think we were being trained to be a workforce of blue collar workers and homemakers. Now (from what I hear) High schools no longer offer shop classes.
It's a damn shame what is happening. I wound up in my profession because of a jewelry class I took in high school.

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Moto East Mag
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Moto East Mag 9/17/2010 2:45pm
9/17/2010 2:45pm
CR250Rider wrote:
how many jobs are we talking about here?
There are about 400,000 workers in the electric utility industry, and almost 40% are due to retire in the next five years.
About 35% of nuke workers are due for retirement in the next few years (which doesn't mean they will all retire).
Febuary
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Febuary 9/17/2010 6:52pm
9/17/2010 6:52pm Edited Date/Time 9/17/2010 6:53pm
All of the workers must still be waiting to retire. I read almost an identical article 3 years ago stating lineman are retiring in droves and will need skilled apprentices. Wanting to change my career, I went to school, got my associates for line work and here I am 5 months after graduating and applying for every single apprentice job I can find and still can't get a call back from anywhere. You seem to either have to know the hiring manager or have parents work for the utility in order to get a shot. Where are all of these supposed utility jobs?
Moto East Mag
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Moto East Mag 9/17/2010 10:24pm
9/17/2010 10:24pm
Febuary wrote:
All of the workers must still be waiting to retire. I read almost an identical article 3 years ago stating lineman are retiring in droves and...
All of the workers must still be waiting to retire. I read almost an identical article 3 years ago stating lineman are retiring in droves and will need skilled apprentices. Wanting to change my career, I went to school, got my associates for line work and here I am 5 months after graduating and applying for every single apprentice job I can find and still can't get a call back from anywhere. You seem to either have to know the hiring manager or have parents work for the utility in order to get a shot. Where are all of these supposed utility jobs?
hmmm.....
WhKnuckle
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WhKnuckle 9/18/2010 2:30am
9/18/2010 2:30am
It's a case where companies have given up on mentoring as worker training. When I first went to work in gas pipelines in 1984, we had a great mix of older, experienced guys and younger, energetic guys that learned the trade. Today, you meet with pipeline techs and they're all pushing 50, it's rare that you find young people who are learning the ropes. And in 1984, the district I worked in had 66 workers, today it has 30. These hiring practices are set in place by high level, generic executives with no experience in any kind of real work on real equipment. In their arrogance, they dictated what hiring practices will be followed, and their only real goal is to cut organizations, build their personal power within the company, and move up before the implications of their decisions become apparent. By that time, they'll have a management layer below them that inherited their mess, and they can blame them for whatever bad outcome results from their own stupidity.
plowboy
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plowboy 9/18/2010 8:23am
9/18/2010 8:23am
WhKnuckle...you are my hero (don't get all puffed up, I'm pretty fickle). You just described the american business model for the last 25-30 years...and explained one of the major reasons the country is soooo screwed. There's no single thing that has brought us to this point but what you mentioned is one of the BIG ones. "No child left behind" may be the next BIG one. I've got three kids and I love 'em to death but I'd be a fool not to admit that only one of them has the mental capacity and work ethic to be successful in college. Not everyone is capable of, or needs a college education...but our educational system is trying to teach every child to a "college-bound level".
Blake
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Blake 9/18/2010 2:18pm
9/18/2010 2:18pm
dougie wrote:
Ive been in people garages today and they have either no tools at all or in many cases a hammer, a couple skrew drivers and a...
Ive been in people garages today and they have either no tools at all or in many cases a hammer, a couple skrew drivers and a box of nails. Maybe a rake and a shovel. Me? Ive got 2 garages and 3 sheds all full to the gills with tools. The times they are a changin' Robert Zimmerman
Thats because for the most part people are stupid.

Nowadays cars are built to not be worked on, like some Toyotas, you really can't check the trans fluid. Its a lifetime fill.

The other day, this guys truck was spewing engine oil all over the ground.


I'm like, that looks like a mix of ATF and Motor Oil.

Turns out the truck was serviced at the dealer, flush and refill tranny. They refilled the engine with 7 more quarts of ATF.

Well, ATF expands like crazy. Trans dry, engine puking oil all over the place.

This is why you never take anything to the dealer for service. Not even for air in the tires.

ATF is colored red or green for a fuckin reason. Who hired these god damn dummies? Oh, wait, they are ASE certified.

Thats like saying a degree means you know how to do something.

Moral is, school will NEVER replace good old on the job training, or real world experience.
Crash82
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Crash82 9/19/2010 10:20am
9/19/2010 10:20am
Moto East Mag wrote:
The electric utility industry is way short of workers. A huge portion of the nuclear industry is set to retire with nobody to replace them. Companies...
The electric utility industry is way short of workers. A huge portion of the nuclear industry is set to retire with nobody to replace them. Companies that build transmission lines can't find workers to train. So in times of rampant unemployment we have massive worker shortages.
The issue is Americans can't do difficult, specialized work. anymore We can all operate a computer, an XBox, or a remote control...but how many people can be trained for jobs like climbing a utility pole and working on high voltage power lines, or running a nuclear reactor safely?
This is where foreign countries are killing us...
Ya, them foreigners kick ass at running some wire...

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