Construction Labor

[huntinslabs]

Do any of you in other states have a labor shortage in new construction? Florida is hurting bad for experienced construction workers in all trades. Framers, concrete guys, plumbers, electricians, roofers, you name it we need it down here.

[Phantom309]

Call the Union Hall .......................

[huntinslabs]

Union hall wont touch a residential home. Not enough $$ in em. Least that is what they think anyway. Union does not understand piece work that everyone has been forced to turn to and remain competitive.

[Cane Pole]

We have a similar situation here. Rural West Tn is the home of the meth generation. Besides, why work when free rides are available?

[skeetbum]

I have some of the smarts but not the body to get it done anymore.

[Special K]

Cane Pole says a mouthful: But much of this stuff is caused (too) by the influx of (undocumented) cheap labor in some areas that undercuts the guts out of most legitimate contractors; who (unlike) the undocumented workers (who our government allows to fly under the radar) are forced to comply with much more state and federal requirements and codes and carry far more insurances and much greater overhead costs that (quite simply) won't allow them to compete with the lower costs of labor and/or the low ball estimates that tend to win a huge percentage of the bids and bidding wars in today's economy.
NO CONTRACTORS = NO CONSTRUCTION LABORERS.

IMHO: This is the very type of reverse engineering "cause and effect" that our government is world famous for. It's the same logic that caused the Mom & Pop businesses (that made our country great) to become extinct by way of the mega stores who undercut the local economy by finding products created by cheaper labor (usually in other countries); eventually local businesses become casualties of the almighty power of the dollar in the modern era... along with the total sacrifice of customer service and sense of duty to drive a solid and healthy economy. What's next in their hit parade??? You gotta wonder!!!

[Tony the Tiger]

I have to add that it's a shame that today people will not learn what pride one feels when they build or create something themselves.

[Tony the Tiger]

Cane pole is right. Also for the last 60 years all younguns are told to get advanced education so you will not have to do manual labor. Craftsmanship is a thing of the past and no one wants an entry level job to learn a trade because the government pay for sorryness is so much better.

[huntinslabs]

Cane pole is right. Also for the last 60 years all younguns are told to get advanced education so you will not have to do manual labor. Craftsmanship is a thing of the past and no one wants an entry level job to learn a trade because the government pay for sorryness is so much better.

This is the other big part. Yes we need advanced education but not every one is cut out for that or have the desire to add another 4 years or more of school. We are doing a disservice to kids today cutting the shop programs out of our high schools.

[skeetbum]

This is the other big part. Yes we need advanced education but not every one is cut out for that or have the desire to add another 4 years or more of school. We are doing a disservice to kids today cutting the shop programs out of our high schools.

My brothers best man at his wedding was a shop teacher at the junior high I attended. There was about 12 different shop classes there and after that we moved to FL. Auto shop was it, 2 year waiting list. If you didn't attend the local junior high it was tough luck. I have a lot of skills to just do what I consider to be general things. Things that I run into all the time. I know when to call a pro, and that is something good to know. One of my young daughters boyfriends was trying to help me in the front yard and I told him to go out by my shed and bring me the 6X6 stub that was there by the door. He leaves and comes back a few minutes later and asks "what is a 6X6?" I know I could have kicked my chin 'cause my mouth dropped open that far.
No education in subjects like this and the absence of a Dad in a lot of houses just furthers that deterioration. Dad taught me two things very early, shut up and hold the flashlight. But i watched him work on a lot of things, and being younger, my brothers also took their turn showing me different things. I knew early on that my oldest brother pointed me in the right direction more than anyone else by putting tools in my hands and letting me make the mistakes it takes to know how to use them.
I don't know where this trend will lead. I know it doesn't bode well for the self sufficiency most of us were taught. The go big or go home attitude some profess pushes some even further away. Everyone wants to be a chief. Higher education is all I hear younger folks talk of. We already are seeing the college graduates unable to find work in their field. Markets are flooded with applicants and as a result the employers are hiring at lower wages. Those that are hired at the lower wage aren't able to keep up the payments on the loans they took out for school. And the snowball keeps rolling down a hill getting steeper all the time. I wonder all the time what my Grandchildren will turn into. What will be there for them. All I can do is tell myself that they learn what they see us do, and do the best I can to show them something different than is being shown by the majority.