Letters to the Editor
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Wait One Bleedin' Minute
I was recently offered a line tech job. (I was a girl, I've done hardware and IR tech work. The manager of the team I'd be working for liked me. HR drooled.) I didn't take it because they weren't willing to come UP to at least $35,000.
Where's this fabled starting salary of $50K?
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Hmm, do health benefits come with that gig?
...because the lack of such bennies are one of the major reasons people don't want to go into blue-collar work. Sure, you may make a nice living, but the toll on your body can easily wipe out any savings you make. My grandfather made a nice living as a coal cutter back in the day, but the job took a serious (and expensive) bite out of his health. He suffered from black lung and heart problems up until the end of his life. If it hadn't been for the United Mine Workers and a good health program, his illnesses would have eaten up all his savings.
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Wichita lineman
Wow, over 25 letters and no one has referenced this song? Where are the Glen Campbell fans?
"I am a lineman for the county. And I drive the main road. Looking in the sun for another overload."
Awesome song. Maybe it just needs to be re-released?
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If the utilities are like my company
The execs bathe themselves in pools of cash. Then they call up HR to pull more bogus stats out of their asses to demonstrate why the midpoint of your salary range has gone up for the 5th year in a row thereby disqualifying you for an increase. And oh - the 1 year performance of the stock is +18% (including this month's 18% decrease) but the 5 year performance is -25%. And did I mention 30,000 jobs went to India? And the benefits costs will rise 20% next year.
I feel so fucking empowered I'm going to get a deer gun and a laser scope. Is it any wonder they put bollards around the front door?
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diy
I'm no lineman, but I do work with my hands (musical instrument repair), and I have to say that anyone who wants to go into a trade should consider self-employment; regardless of wages and benefits, being on your own can ultimately provide better security (if you have hundreds of clients, it's unlikely that all of them will fire you), and the control over your work is priceless.
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Where are the linemen?
And I need you more than want you.
And I want you for all time.
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The Parental Factor
As many of the letter writers have pointed out, the reasons for the drastic shortage of skilled labor are myriad and complex. I'd like to add another one, the Parental Factor.
I am a mechatronics engineer with over 25 years under my belt, and am in frequent, involved contact with industries and training organizations. The fact is, skilled labor (my reference is mechatronic technicians, who are responsible for the upkeep of factory automation systems) has become much more high-tech than the previous generation. The systems that techs maintain are much more sophisticated, requiring workers to be computer literate, as well as math and language-literate, as well. You can't be a successful tech grad of a vocational school by being a dummy. Students need to have strong academic skills to make it and get a good job, today.
Unfortunately, parents are still stuck in the perception of Vo-tech as a dumping ground for dummies, miscreants and other "problem" students. Although tech schools today strenuously avoid using the "V-Word," a skilled-labor career for Mom and Dad's little replicant is still a very hard sell. Tech schools have a great deal of difficulty attracting registrants, partly because the Parental Units want Jill and Johnny to be lawyers, etc. and make "good" money. They don't want their kids in what they think is a greasy, dirty, dead-end environment.
Now I don't know much about linemen, but in the mechatronics field, one can make plenty good $$, especially if they are young, single and willing to hustle some OT. A smart aggressive kid who doesn't live beyond his means can get a good leg up compared to the masses of over-educated liberal-arts grads trying to pay off their student loans on Barista wages. Not only that, the work is not universally dangerous or dirty. There are many good gigs to be had. There is also (some) career growth- a tech can become a supervisor, or even an engineer by going to night-school on the company dime. Not a bad gig if you are lucky enough to get the right employer.
Also, many techs go into industrial sales or service, often by starting their own company.
So I dare say, that it is certainly the case that qualified applicants are hard to find. Whether or not that is by design, and why the salaries are not commensurate with labor demand is an entirely different discussion.
(By the way- Mexico has lots and lots of highly skilled mechatronics techs right across the border... Hmmmmm)
Thanks for reading, and do be well!
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on underground lines and the like
the utility lines were buried in Germany as the country rebuilt itself after World War II; I cannot confirm this but I read somewhere that the utility lines (power, telephone, cable, gas and so on) are laid in conduits that are underneath the public sidewalks; if utility line work is needed, the crews simply pull up the sidewalk slab and begin; after the utility work is done, the sidewalk slabs are then laid down over the conduits
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Underground utilities
Yes, Tom-
In many German cities, the service utilities run under the sidewalks, which are either slabs, or more common- paving stones (very nice look, I might add). Access is simple, and easy to repair.
Moving utilities underground makes sense in many densely populated urban areas. Since most of Europe falls under that category, most utilities are underground. There are not many places in the USA where that would be cost-effective, except for example, Much of NY City, but it is still not unknown this side of the Atlantic. There are streets in NYC that literally have to be excavated with teaspoons because there is such a tangle of stuff underground!
Long-distance power transmission however, is still largely above-ground all over. Although if the kooky fringe who believe that power lines radiate Venusian Death Rays had their way, everything would be underground- but that's another discussion.