This is a little late coming, but I hope there are people who will still visit this in 2020. I will soon turn 66 (in 11 days). When Mike talks about his grandfather he could be talking about me. When I was growing up I never considered that we were poor. Looking back it is more obvious to me that we were. It wasn't until my older brother went into the Army in 1968 that I got the chance to have clothes that were new. I never once thought twice about that in my youth. My friends all got new bikes from time to time. My first bike was one I built from parts of old bikes I found at the curb on garbage day. As it turns out I was pretty good with my hands. As I got older bikes turned into cars. There I was still picking up cars from the curb for the parts. I learned how to remove and rebuild engines. I learned how to weld by trial and error. It should be no surprise that I didn't go to college. There was no money for that kind of thing. So I went in the direction of the money, not the direction of debt. At age 19 I met the girl I wanted to marry. At age 20 I got engaged and purchased my first house. Fast forward to 2016 at age 62 I was able to retired as Operations Manager for Safway Scaffolding. Never having gone to college I retired debt free. Together, me and my wife purchased a new pickup truck and a new travel trailer. We paid cash for both. My wife retired two years later from her job as Assistant Vice President at Huntington Bank. She also didn't go to college and went to work for the bank at age 17. Together we have built a pretty good life by working hard and making good choices. Later this year we will celebrate 45 years of marriage. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against college both of our adult children are college grads and are doing very well working in their chosen fields. My point is that I agree with Mike Rowe on this one fact. There is more than one way to be successful. Don't go to college unless you know what you want to do in life and fully understand what it takes to get there. There is no free ride in life and success takes hard work. There are people who tell me it was easy for me and that same thing can't happen today. At age 66 I still have my health and I still have my skills and I have no doubt I could get another job if I wanted to. I just don't want to.
aint no more schools needed. they aint no real good paying good jobs to be had . 'just check cregslist see what they want vs the pay !!!! rowe lies nonstop !!!!!! shut this bum up. give the kids a set of lego s .. say no to all the illegals coming in and low balling the job market. illegals steal our jobs and lower our earning ability
Here's the problem... Mike Rowe put up some very interesting ideas, makes some very profound statements and, in general, lays out a lot of the problems we face as a country. The problem with this is that he's done this several times over the years and, in spite of the positive receptions he received from politicians, NOTHING HAPPENS. The only reason Mike Rowe and others like him are invited to these panels is so that the politicians on the panels can say "Look at this, we're listening to your concerns". Meanwhile everything remains the same. We get pretty speeches and platitudes from these politicians, but we get ZERO progress.
Just because you have nor seen if does not mean somethings are not happening. These Skills Tech events that go around the country are huge and company recruiters are many and in with the walking around people. They are looking for technologists, technicians, all trades, skilled builders and fabricators.
We will all pay a price if we don't close this skills gap at some point. Skilled labor is and always has been what built this nation not college degrees. I worked manual labor for the first 20 years of my adult life before going to college and I would not trade that experience for anything. It gave me a good work ethic as well as taught me a lot about people in general. Congress and our schools had better listen to Mike or we will all pay a he as vy price for this in the future.
Most people are being trained for work that involves some form of computer knowledge. And not that there is anything wrong with that, but the problem is; hypothetically speaking, is if all this computer stuff were just crash for some reason, and you're not skilled with your hands, then how do you expect to survive? It's great to be smart, it's great to be intelligent and to constantly seek knowledge. But when it comes to work, you not only have to be smart, you have to be skilled. And going back to the hypothesis I just mentioned, if you don't know how to work with your hands, how then are you gonna be able to make a living? I'm gonna tell you right now, there is no shame in working with your hands. It doesn't matter what you do, if you're working hard to support yourself and/or your family; provided the work you're doing is honest, there is no shame in it. You can be a welder, a laborer, a farmhand, a mechanic, a roofer, an asphalt patcher, or a guy who works down in the sewers, whatever it is, if you're doing that to support yourself, BE PROUD OF WHAT YOU'RE DOING, STRIVE TO DO A GREAT JOB, and DON'T LET ANYONE PUT YOU DOWN FOR DOING IT.
We can get by without the accountants and bankers. We can't get by without the ditch diggers and farmers. Blue collar workers make white collar life possible.
Totally agree. It really is sad that blue collar guys (even though many are making an average of 50k-70k per year) are looked at as failures because they work these jobs. I am sure probably 90% of these people could make it through college if they wanted to. Today's society views someone who does not have a 4 year arts degree or business degree as a lower class uneducated citizen. You can't have a nation full of people with psychology, humanities, writing, and business degrees. Many, such as myself, felt they had to go with the flow and go to college after high school instead of perusing a hands on trade and looking like a failure. Halfway through my second year, I was fed up. I was already swimming in debt, and more was building up. Not to mention the fact that there was not very many jobs out there for people with regular 4 year arts degrees, since everyone and there mother has one. I read how there were thousands of high paying "blue collar" jobs out there that simply were not being filled. I dropped out, and decided to get a certificate as a Wind Turbine Technician in my home state of Oregon...I now have full benefits and make 65k a year (and on the rise the more experience I get), I've payed the 2 years of college debt off, I own a home, I recently got married and now have a first child on the way, and I am living VERY comfortably. "BLUE COLLAR" IS NOT DEROGATORY TERM!
I'm a 4.0 GPA medical student who just decided to change majors to mechatronics engineering (electro-mechanical maintenance basically). I'll probably be looked down on by a lot of people for having a job that gets grease on my hands despite my intellectual capabilities. This is sad but true and is ridiculous. I agree with you and with what Mike said whole-heartedly.
they are not see as failure because they earn 50-70k only because there is plenty other jobs which pay much better and doesnt require heavy physiacal work often in unfriendly enviroments.
CP96 well...I'm a house wife...I wish someone would speak on that also...I'm seen as a moocher according to society...just want a man to take care of me...as things are changing...there are as he says...do many people disconnected as to where things come from...take things for granted...people font realize how that has caused something in kids who's parents have chose to live simple and don't have as much as they want...those kids feel depressed because they compare it to those who've taken things for granted,as if it's a need...sure,its not bad...but when the kids body about what they have...n belittle you because you've suffered the effect of a family that still believes in living simple...but together...because taking on to much,more often comes at the price of tearing the family apart...families are suffering and struggling to stay together because of so many factors that they wouldn't think would even relate because as he says...we are so disconnected...we see things at a superficial level...not a spiritual one,where we can see how any problem can relate to a whole other...we have all these analysts who are good at analyzing things separately...but can't see the picture as a whole ,there for,the puzzle is never complete...
CP96 - that ain’t no shit. “Blue collar” is the middle class. And the middle class IS America. No one with a 4 year arts degree is going to drive America.
I've been on both paths, and none of it has helped me land a job, because of the economy. The only reason I have a job right now is I went through a day labor place and they found a job working in a hotel. I'm able to switch jobs next week to telecommunications for an oil business, because I played around with computers. I did work in a few physical labor jobs when I was 14 and school was out and got along with my co-workers. It really depends on certain situations and the individual.
there are programs in high school that get people to do a job for extra grades it co-op i think thats it.how bout we put that from high school and up.give them a reason to at lest try the job and if nothing else is taken from that job hell at lest have more respect for the ones that do that job
I can attest that working construction between semesters or before attending college is an amazing motivator for those who wonder if they are wasting their time going to school. In my experience of roofing in south Texas in July led to good grades for several semesters to follow. I would also say that the socialization and reality check is good for those with a path in "academia."
Trades have, for the most part, become dead end jobs because wages have fallen dramatically. The show 60 minutes did a piece about the shortage of workers in the trades. Turns out that a lot of the businesses did not want to pay people much, hence the short fall. Why break your back for shit wages when there are easier jobs that now pay the same.
How much do employers have to pay to incentivize workers to actually come to work instead of staying home and living off of various governmental "benefits"?
thank you Mr. Rowe. as a 42 year old, 20 years in the construction industry, i can confirm that there are many jobs that i do for a living that teachers in grade school, belittle the position, "do you want to dig ditches for the rest of your life?" turns out, one can make a very good living "digging ditches". my GF sons have no idea how to work a saw or a hammer and i see this with most young males today and, that frightens me.
Our job preferences are based on the wealth distribution of our country. People in the upper percentiles of income are doing much better than those below them. CEOs make hundreds of times what their employees make. If doing a "trade" was viewed as a way to get ahead economically maybe it would be more appealing. It isn't people looking down on these trades, but are economic system doing so. The Walmart family earns more than 40,000 plumbers from owning stuff.
well like i always say, what I lack in book work, I make up for with hands on work. I can do the formulas, but I prefer to have my hands dirty tearing something down and rebuilding it.
HowToDoManlyShit he's not, but he's warning us that in 10 years it will cost you about 200$ an hour to hire a plumber or any trades work if we do not fill these jobs now.
I agree with you. I grew up on a farm and learned at a young age what work is. I am know in college studying mechanical engineering because of my knowledge of how things work. I was told that colleges struggle to find engineering students who know how to use there hands. And they were right. Most of the kids I have classes have never worked. They have no work ethic, no attention to detail, and they play on their damn phones all day. People need to expirence real work to appriciate what they got.
Doesn't this seem a little too hands-on, though? What about those that are on a career path to success in academia? Wouldn't such a job take some wind out of their sails, so to speak? Perhaps some incentive for high school graduates to work these jobs before attending college, or even while going to college, but a requirement is too heavy handed.
Nannies have to have degrees in Early Childhood Development. Why does it surprise people that young Plumbers are so hard to find....after all, how important a job could it possibly be if you don't need a flippin degree?
It worked smashingly well for over 200 years, until the last few administrations and congresses went astray with crony capitalism and insane laws, regulations and taxes from both parties, and record spending. That's what is ruining our country.
Maybe if you were paid as an apprentice you'ld know how we feel. Its one thing to exploit us its another to live as one of us...Dirty jobs... I live it. Maybe you'll consider this next time you pump for the likes of Romney! You really disappoint me...
Hope you're joking.Corporatism is a problem. Cronyism is a problem. Bureaucracies holding back job production is a problem. Outsourcing of jobs is a problem. The Federal Reserve printing money devaluing the dollar is a problem. The gov't over-spending is a problem. People wanting to start businesses, work for a living, create innovations, keeping the fruits of their labor, choosing what to do with it all in a free & fair market where everyone is accountable to the same standards is the solution.
Capitalism is THE most successful economic system in the history of the world. Feudalism and Communism have both been proven to disastrous. These are facts.
Huh? Lack of pay? Not really. Just look up average pay salaries of blue collar jobs. A welder gets an average salary of between $24,497 and $46,405. As of 2010, Payscale.com reports that beginning master plumbers typically earn between $37,506 and $49,920 annually. I do understand there are thousands of blue collar jobs that are low pay but they're unskilled jobs that anyone can do with 5 minutes of training and sorry, you're not going to get that killer pay with one of those jobs.
I own an appliance repair company in Eagle, ID. I have more work than I can handle and no skilled repairmen to hire! There are very few trade schools out there anymore. America needs to get back to PRODUCING! Get the kids away from the game console and let them play! Tear apart mom's toaster, help dad fix the car. Or this country is in BIG trouble!
I aggree. In my area though, even the migrant workers are having a tough time finding work. I am in the process of getting my CNA/GNA licence so if I get laid off again at least I will have a halfway decent job to fall back on. I would recommend that everyone have a backup field or plan just in case the job market remains rocky.
I am an electrician from Maryland. One of the major problems with the skilled trades is the fact that none of the companies out there want to hire anyone. The unemployment rate of trade and construction workers in the MD/VA/DE area is about 20% and is much higher for registered apprentices. Most companies are embracing the do more with less mentality because of the economy and to increase profits.
