|
BG, I agree with everything you said. I work in the trades and although it was a little hard for a few months, I don't think north of the border has been hit as hard as it did in the US. But I got a job in a place that was hard to find workers for the most mundane jobs, and when you're making $20/hour at McDs or a fast food joint and I was making 14/hour as an electrician, fast food is where it was, but I got a nice kick in the ass from my Dad to get a career as apposed to a "job." And personally, I think the job market is more of an experience market compared to a more educational market. Most of the people I went to school with for upgrading my training didn't even graduate high school and trust me, there is alot of useless people trying to get into the trades because its the job to get into right now.
Now, becoming an electrician was just a fall back for me, I really want to get back into school for two different fields... first.. the dumb one... I want to become a grafiti artist, and I really need someone to guide me where to go.... second I want to finish my Geophysics degree so that I can make some good money. I've already become a journeyman and I think that the trade is just a good fall back just in case the geophysics thing doesn't work out, artist is only a fun thing but I need to do a few things for myself once in awhile.
Now onto my theories. I believe this whole "market crash" came about from a few things... People/Corporations living beyond their means, that a person chose to get the 35 year mortgage because they couldn't afford the 150000 house on a 25/20 year mortgage. I have a friend who was suppose to go on strike and because most of their employees couldn't afford to take a week off because they could sustain a lifestyle they had built for themselves and they live way out of their means, they had to accept a crappy contract and get screwed over right now. And the company that use to be able to afford paying their employees a higher wage because it made them competitive with other companies are now hurting as well.
With a market that has a huge flow of people with little positions for them.... people are going to have to realize that they are going to have to suck it up for awhile, get paid less, get less benefits until this all blow over. I make 35.50/hour now but I have no benefits at all and right now, I'm vastly overpaid because the market here is still short of people. I think the trades here are full of alot of people who cannot think for themselves and needs to be told what to do, instead of being independant thinkers, which to me undermines the trades. How is technology here supposed to change if everyone is just stuck in a rut because that's what is most comfortable to them.
If some law makers, workers, manufacturers got off their asses and started to develop better greener technology, that would create such a large opportunity for alot of people, busniesses and might be the right direction for countries to come out of the recession. The whole situation isn't about bailing failing companies out, its about a market shift toward something that works better for society as a whole. In Alberta, its all about Oil Money here and there's really no other industries around and if governments and companies got their heads together, Alberta could be a leader in green technology and become the single greatest irony ever... an oil based province developing green technology. We just need some free thinkers to lead the revolution of responsible business and hard working attitude and a willingness to reward hard working people.
end rant...
|