Letters to the Editor
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skills shortage or just trades that havent kept up?
My husband is just now completing his electrical apprenticeship (in Australia). While I can't speak to the specific problems of the skills shortage for linesmen in America, I've seen quite a bit of coverage of it here.
There seems to be an assumption that Gen X/Y aren't hardworking, or aren't interested in "blue collar" jobs. This really doesn't reflect the reality of the situation. As mentioned in previous posts, High school does not prepare or even encourage students to take the "tradie" path instead of the "4 year uni" path. The trades are seen as what you go into if you were "too dumb" to go to a real school, which is too bad.
The trades themselves are also a problem. My husband works for a pack of f*ckwits, many of whom WERE to dumb to go to a real school. This sort of environment doesn't encourage him or other smart hardworking young people to enter the trades.
He had to do a four year apprenticeship (which in Australia is LONGER than a university degree which only takes 3 years) to become qualified. This included 8 hours a week of course-time, and the rest of the week working onsite.
Apprentices are often given the worst and most physically demanding jobs on the site (ever try digging a trench for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week? It is literally "back-breaking" work), and the quality of their actual on-the-job education is entirely upon the whims of their employer. Employers are often not interested in training up apprentices, but rather simply getting as much "cheap labour" out of them as possible.
Once he is qualified, he is ONLY qualified to work in one state. Should he wish to move to another state in Australia, or god forbid, another country, he will have to take his apply for recognition and take another test. I earned my bachelor's degree in America and my Masters in Australia, and both countries recognize my degrees. I can go essentially wherever I want and my qualifications are recognized. The same is absolutely NOT true for the trades, especially the electrical trade in which there are many local regulations and laws the electrician must be aware of.
After becoming an electrician (or even the more specific career of a linesman), he can only ever be an electrician. After working on work sites for 30 years, he can not become a carpenter or plumber. He can only EVER use his electrician's qualification to be an electrician. I can use my undergraduate degree in English to do quite a few things, and work in quite a few different fields. I can build on my undergraduate degree with postgraduate qualification and get credit for the study I have already done. A tradesman/woman can not. They are literally STUCK in that field, with no chance for mobility.
Now, $60,000 a year sounds nice, but back breaking work for initial low pay, patchy employer led training, and a qualification that can't transfer from state to state or job fields doesn't sound quite as appealing. And many university graduates will eventually make more than $60,000 for a lot less hassle.
Making a trade qualification more like a university degree, which allows the holder to work in different countries/states and in different construction/engineering related fields would be a good first step to bringing people back to the trades. Currently, the trades system is still rooted in the early colonial days, where the apprentice took over the master's work, and never left his home town. People in gen Y/X want flexibility, as we've seen what happened to our parents who did the same job all their lives then got 'laid off', and found their skill sets were redundant.