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Where did the construction workers go? (www.npr.org)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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The gist of it: with each passing decade there's a growing shortage of construction laborers, resulting in large wait times for housing to be built. Some analysts wonder why the key demographic isn't showing up.

I've seen a few articles in the past few years about young men supposedly checking out of society and work, I wonder if there is a connection between that and this article here because young men tend to be the prime demographic for working this job.

Companies need to pay their workers better.

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[-] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago

I can't speak to the general problem, but I can tell you why I left construction and manual labour more generally.

A lot of the work is still as damaging to the body as it was in 1930.

Toxic coworkers enabled and even encouraged by psychopathic supervisors.

Safety is not only not built in to procedures, but actively mocked and even deliberately worked around, even when doing so slows things down.

And all that for less than double minimum wage for experienced workers when it used to be easily triple minimum wage to start.

[-] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Exactly. It's not worth the strain on the body for the pay.

[-] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

I'm still am apprentice, and I already make more than I ever did in my first career (20 years as a chef). Journeyman rates are over $40/ hour and once you included insurance and retirement theyre around $80/ hour. Oh and were among the lower paid locals in our state.

I walked off a jobsite because they failed to provide us with safe conditions, had the safety officer on site that day, had the local union officers follow up, contractors apologized fixed the conditions and paid me for my missed time.

If you let them joke about it, they will. If you make them follow it, they will. Safety starts and ends with you brother.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Most construction jobs are not unionized like yours.

I refused to do a job because it was unsafe, and mysteriously found my hours cut to almost nothing shortly after. From 60+ hr weeks to <10.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

All the more reason to go join a union

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yep 😊👍 ... worked many job sites, never bumped into OSHA. Maybe I was supposed to report the unsafe work environment / employer? shrug

[-] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago

Spending 5 minutes on Google shows that the number of construction workers is at all time highs.

It's just that a hot economy requires even more labour.

My 2 cents, the economy could use a rebalancing by raising wages and reducing profits a bit.

If salaries of construction workers get raised from $40K to $50K, then the number of openings will go down and the remaining workers can focus on the more important work while getting a better wage.

[-] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago

reducing profits a bit

This man wants shareholders to starve! How can you provide for your family if you can only afford a 60' yacht instead of 70'??

[-] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

What a fucking socialist piece of shit they are, if they wanted to be paid well they should have thought of that when being born a poor

[-] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

from $40K to $50K

I don't know what construction wkrs make but I think this should be a LOT higher. 50K starting and topping out around 100k.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

If you go union those rares are a lot higher

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Perhaps, those are the BLS figures from 2023.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Interesting, Thanks.

[-] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago

Each generation tells the next that college is needed even more these days, unless you want to be a trash collector or construction worker. That, along with the getting worse pay and body damaging labor, adds up fast.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

It is exactly this. We're trying to recruit hard too, which is working. My local can take about 50 apprentices a year. Between job fairs and school presentations we had 700 apply this year, which is awesome, but way more than we can handle at once.

There is great money to be made in the trades, and joining a union is the absolute best way to do it.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

This is why I never really went for the trades. It always seemed like winning the lottery to get an apprenticeship, at least in a large city.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's really not. If there's a long wait then you apply for the apprenticeship and while you wait ask if they have any other training programs, most of them do, or go work non union while you wait to get in. Gaining experience will help you move up the list and you'll be starting in no time. I had absolutely 0 construction experience and waited less than a year to start in the 3rd largest city in our state.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Depends on the trade. I've worked with a bunch in my area.

Elevators, building engineers? You gotta know somebody. Laborers union? You ain't Latino, you ain't getting in. Electricians, welders? You don't have to know someone, but it sure helps if you do. Also if you're white.

Oh, and No Girls Allowed, so there goes 50% of your potential recruits.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Well I guess since you have all the answers, everyone should go home and just not fucking try. I mean, what's the point? Cryophilia here said everything is hopeless and lost. I mean, he personally applied to all of these labor unions and was given these responses. What chance do we have?

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It is what it is, I don't see how sticking your head in the sand will help anything.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

You're the one talking about how hopeless trying to work in the trades is, which it isn't. I had no experience, and knew no members before I applied. When I have come across unsafe conditions on a site I've always gotten it fixed.

You said you complained about unsafe conditions, to who? The non union contractor? Or did you talk to osha? When they cut your hours did you file for under employment? Did you do anything to actually fix the conditions for the other workers? Or did you just shrug and move on?

One of us ran into struggles, dealt with them and improved, the other cries about how it's not even worth trying. Who's head is in the sand?

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

I got a new job and told the other workers what happened. I did not file an OSHA complaint, because it was very tenuous and I was a little busy with my sudden lack of income. I now have a job that makes much more money while actually prioritizing safety.

You’re the one talking about how hopeless trying to work in the trades is

No, I'm not. You made that up in your own head. I simply pointed out my experience in my area. My point was that it's not always as easy as walking into the union hall with a firm handshake and getting an apprenticeship.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Oh sir, my apologies. You only cited the impossibility of getting into a union, the danger and abuse of the work, a complete lack of regard for anyone's safety, rampant racism, sexism and nepotism...

...but I crossed a line when I summized all that into a hopeless outlook.

And applying is ALWAYS as easy as walking in with nothing but a firm handshake. Most of the time ive only needed half of that.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

You have an issue with hyperbole, my friend.

You also have this problem where you think your personal experiences are universally applicable to the entire world.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No, you have an issue with pessimism. You seem to give up and move on for something easy as soon as you need to show effort.

You cited why you couldn't get into a bunch of unions, but I don't think you applied to any of them. Which means you think your assumptions are universally applicable. Mine are at least based on experience, and im encouraging people to go out there and do it. You've got nothing but assumptions and excuses.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

First of all you're being weirdly angry about this.

Second, my info comes from multiple conversations with union members and union leaders in my area. I didn't just apply, I talked to the people who view applications. That means I have more insight than you.

Third, I never said my experience was universally applicable.

You need to take a chill pill dude, you're gonna end up catching 20 to life at this rate. I just shared my experience with the unions in my area. Your area is probably different. Someone reading this will probably have a different experience than either of us.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

More nothing and excuses.

I'm not upset in the least, maybe you should check the tone you read me in

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[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Ex construction worker here. I did HVAC installation for 6 years and worked as an apprentice electrician for two. This is in California(SoCal;southern California). I didn't get any health insurance benefits. Also I wasn't in a union of any kind. The work is demanding; the pay was ok. There's a lot of toxic Mother Fuckers in construction, besides your boss I mean. I also felt that there wasn't many trade schools to go to and they were not easy to find. I went to get a certificate in an electrician course and found out that the certificate ( which I didn't even get, because I didn't show up on the last day (came to get it multiple times after with no luck)) that they were giving out didn't even mean shit really. I always felt there's not enough clear information on how to climb the ladder if you wanted to get accredited education in construction. Unless You went to LA TRADE TECH college (Los Angeles) . Or if you didn't get a job at LADWP, your skills and knowledge didn't offer You any good jobs. I worked private sector jobs and got my knowledge from; (basically) an online school ( penn foster ) .

Anyways 🤨 I just always felt that the state didn't provide enough information on how to climb the ladder in your career, where to go get certification that was accredited ETC.

We really need some bad ass trade schools (out here) that aren't for profit. And clear information on how to get licensed in different trades.

That's my two cents

Edit; let me add this; to me it feels like the government can be shortcited. They didn't invest in training 😕 new generation of trade workers IMHO ; and now they're like; "oh shit!"

For profit; "everything", makes life shit. (Pardon my French and also the terrible use of English grammar)

[-] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago

All of the workers shortages always come down to the same things. Money for the workers which have been sacrificed for the business to be as profitable as other businesses. I know that for something like construction this can only be done by skimping on quality or screwing over workers.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Why not both!? I can maximize my profits by producing the skimpiest, leakiest, shittiest micro condos (charged out at the most luxurious of prices) and also shaft my overworked, overextended, undersupported workforce (preferably foriegn, marginalized and/or vulnerable)! /s

[-] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Most companies pay pretty good where I am. The issue is the culture, as someone else pointed out. Especially in Residential...

As far as "It's hard on the body", it really isn't, if the management, and your co-workers support a safe environment, and provide what you need. Again, that comes down to the culture.

This is one of the many reasons why Unions should be priority fucking one, in any workplace.

[-] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Maybe they need to get paid more.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

No that couldn’t be it! Why wouldn’t someone want to work at a job that tears your body up so hard that many die within a couple years if retiring?

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

No one seems to be paying attention to the fact that technology has added a lot of new career fields over the last few decades.

If you add a new career field like software engineer or fiber optics service technician and your work force stays relatively the same size then you will divide up your workforce over a greater number of professions. Leaving less workers to be carpenters, plumbers and electricians.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Similar to why women started entering the workforce when they did. The technology created new jobs that needed more people.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Please consider updating the post URL to link to the actual content providers: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/06/1158576556/where-did-the-workers-go-construction-jobs-are-plentiful-but-workers-are-scarce

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Ok I think it's fixed

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

You're the best, thanks!

this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2023
25 points (82.1% liked)

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