It makes sense, trade skills are seen "old" economy job and those people are ageing out and not enough people are taking their place, (which would normally be filled by migration) but from developed to developing nations we were all sold this dream of being office workers and keyboard crusaders of the digital age and have no skills just paper skills.
I do feel that the shortage is only temporary, 3D printing and robotics will gobble up a lot of trade work, no need to pay labour, health, workman's comp, it saves a tonne of money.
So I don't believe this blue-collar job shortage is a viable solution long term. I don't know if you've seen how they automating jobs out of smartphone manufacturers like they literally get engineers to study the engineers building the phone and then build computers and robots to do that complex work.
It's nuts how far we moving with productivity, the fact is technology is eating the world, I can see myself even being in tech could be out of a job in the near future and while i won't mind the leisure time and time to reskill or pursue something else, I'll need a type money that is going to last....
Some jobs you can automate but not all. We are hard to automate yo. Yes no new young blood to replenish the aging skills but that's where priorities come to play. Right now people are crying poverty but looking down at those jobs. Do you want the fancy degree or a degree in what is available and pays well, many of those fancy degrees eventually join us when they are 40 anyway, wouldn't they be better off if they stopped whining in their 20's and just went the "low class" route to begin with making their 6 figures instead of student loans. We have a running joke in among us that we were told if we dropped out of school we would be forced to become dumb tardesmen yet we make sooo much more than a teacher or many other white collar jobs here, that is why these jobs are out of favor. Like the article I posted at the bottom, you pay as much to unclog your toilet as you do to see a doctor. Long term, are toilets going to be technologically advanced to self unclog? Some factory work will use more automation but some jobs you just can't replace.
Tech degrees are fine and we need them for sure but tech doesn't run on pixie dust and unicorn farts. You need energy as long as there are humans. If you want that tech, you need the facilities to process the raw material to make that, someone not a robot has to maintain that so it keeps functioning like a well oiled machine. That's why my job is kinda relevant in many setting, I'm a welding engineer (more complicated than that since I technically work 2 different trades in one as a specialized skill), it doesn't mater what the industry as long as it joins metal in applications that require high pressure requirements. A robot isn't going to build that or build the internals once in place to bring a refinery from a piece of paper to a functioning reality. Realistically, oil, coal , green energy, pixie dust, it requires some form of processing and my job covers just about all that requires metal manipulation cold or hot.
The world is moving fast into automation and high productivity but that will have other social implications with an increasing population and decreasing number of jobs. I bet you see the writing on the wall with blockchain too, that will cut a lot of jobs if implemented large scale. My job staying relevant or not I'm getting older and want to slow down a little in about a decade so it would be nice to have a hobby with a bit of revenue to compensate. Maybe I can eventually do something with my photography as I continue to upgrade my skills on my time off. I could always go teaching in my college when I get too old but I would prefer avoiding that and do something fun if I have to do a full on career switch. Why I'm thinking the nukes then call it a day come back and retire in the mountains. I hear you on a type of money that is going to last, hard to say. I think tangible goods is a way to go too. Why I struggle more with the crypto concept than the rest of you. It is convenient and has it's place for sure but also a lot of uncertainties.
I think we'll all be surprised at how many jobs get taken over by AI, Robotics and machine learning, a few years ago instantly messaging someone around the world and calling him a twat was impossible, now we take it for granted. I'd never bet against humans and their infinite desire for more laziness and enabling that through technology.
Honestly, for me, I don't even see the point of formal education, I would say we should be moving to just have accreditations. So go online learn what you need to learn, then just pay take the tests for your industry and cut out this bullshit of 4 years. If I can do it in 1 year why should I waste 3?
Sure the race is on, we're so energy dependant now we need more forms, be it thorium, nuclear for now, solar and wind still not convinced yet on that but I've seen good progress on things like UV panels and such but I think it's not a silver bullet and will take time to be refined. But yeah energy production and distribution is by no mean efficient and a lot can be done to lose less energy when producing and moving energy to places it's needed.
I am not one of those people that feel my job defines anything in my life, I honestly don't care much for it, I see it as a means to an end, I am contributing to society in my small way but if my entire industry were automated Id low key rejoice lol. I'll just spend time doing other stuff like coding more fun stuff that's not all about how much money it can make!
True for sure, stranger things have happened. I'm no overly stressed about it because by the time it really impacts our industry, I will be aging out of the work force anyway, at least trying to!
The need for formal education, it depends on the occupation, do you want surgery from the guy who watched a few youtube videos? my industry, do that and they will blow up the place or kill someone including themselves by accident. We do have a different program tho, it's not 3 years strait school, it's a well paid apprenticeship that requires 1500 hours of actual work experience and mentorship each year, 2 strait months of school learning all the book portion and the wages increase each competed year. Not too bad of a deal actually. Some degrees I agree is like putting lipstick on a pig and shouldn't be necessary if an individual has good "street skills" in their industry of choice.
Here without the basic first 12 years of grade school is hard to even get a job nowadays just slinging beer and serving tables. You even need an additional course now too. A single mom trying to open a dayhome to care for a few children as income, need school for that too cause raising your own kids isn't enough experience. It's sad really. Knowledge and skills shoud matter more than what school you went to.
I'm 50/50 on mine, not the job I had imagined but it's actually pretty cool some of the projects I get to be a part of, something very few see! But it was means to an end like you. It's what I had to work with because I didn't like the circumstances I was in and wanted to get out. That was my way out. Like any human, I like being lazy and wanted summers off because it's nice and I want to be outside exploring and winters off because I hate the cold and this job gives me that with the high hours. Given when we work it's over 80 hours a week it's like 2 weeks in one so I do all my hours at once and take my summer and winters off rather than the continuous 9-5 5days a week(works out the same amount of hours worked per year in the end)...that is just too unnatural for me to live that way. Not the dream job but gets my dream-ish lifestyle...I say that modestly, like a respectable roof over my head and don't have to pinch pennies when I do groceries on my time off kinda dream.
I agree we need better energy technologies and transportation policies all around, even in manufacturing. I don't think solar or windmills and long lasting lithium batteries is going to solve that.
I think I am in the same boat as you when they've finally made me obsolete, i'll hopefully have scrapped enough pennies together to be a grumpy old man that complains about things like noise in the area and why "insert x" product no longer exists, it was a better time lol
Lol no I wouldn't want surgery from a YouTuber, ill just get it from a vending machine, insert a credit card, and boom, I got my appendix removed.
Yeah, I agree, its like life experience and on-the-job learning isn't a thing, it's all about this piece of paper. If that piece of paper was so valuable wouldn't those teaching it be the wealthiest people on the planet? Last time I checked there were very few teachers pulling in 8 million a year like someone who knows how to kick a ball really well.
Oh, I am well aware my complaints are pretty privileged in nature, its not as if I shrug my shoulders each day with long sighs, I'm just aware that this doesn't define me. It's just what I do due to a series of circumstances I could control and many that I couldn't, I am pretty grateful, don't get me wrong. I just think theres more to this than working coming home, bitching about the boss, cracking a cold one, watching the game and then re-doing that for 40 years and getting a pension.
No disrespect to people who want that, its a behaviour that countries are built on, but I want to learn more about people, the world and get out of the bubble
"I just think there is more to this than working coming home, bitching about the boss, cracking a cold one, watching the game and then re-doing that for 40 years and getting a pension". That's why I hustle now. Also why I work all my hours at once and then take time off, I can't handle the thought of that either, sounds souls sucking. Not looking to get super rich, just enough to retire to my mountain property and sit on the porch to watch the sunset worry free. I didn't go thru all this to a walmart greeter at 70 cause a loaf of bread cost $100 instead of $4 (it used to be like 30 cents when I was a kid).
don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of first world complaints obviously but fix the problem here, fix many problems everywhere. I'm more proactive where I like to solve problems before they get out of hand. I have seen both sides of the equation and pay attention to the deterioration on conditions. We are still a pretty good country for now, just trying to prevent it from becoming a globalist shithole before we reach a point of no return because some parts of my country already are shitholes, just not the one I currently live in. People make assumptions but not everyone in Canada has clean running water or affordable food. The more north you go the worst it gets, housing gets pretty sub par too. I was in the streets because of bad parents in one of the shitholes with not much for social solutions for dumped kids and it left a sour taste in my mouth and I never want to experience it again. I think it traumatized me because I was a kid and there was nothing I could do to help myself without a guardian until a certain age. It really sucked and I hate seeing it's still a problem here and people being pointed in the wrong direction like a never ending loop. I might seem harsh at first glance at times but life is hard, we just pick our hard I guess.
"insert x" product no longer exists - I love doing that and I'm not even that old... or be appalled at what the kids are into these days😁 I like the vending machine surgery, sounds legit. I think the guys kicking a ball are overpaid but that's just my opinion.
I don't really trust most people so I prefer to know less of them, saves on drama and unwanted interference!