OT-I need a well qualified mechanic!

[hoz53]

I'm a electrician in the Kansas City area. We can't find people with any work ethic, but we get a lot of kids that think they deserve $38.00 an hour with no experience.

there is a significant amish population in the county i live in. a retired guy i know works part time at an amish lumber yard. he said the amish guy driving the delivery truck went to the boss and told him 55.00 /hr wasnt enough and he needed a raise.—-

 

[Retired shooter]

Our guys sure make more than that, but we only have big fans in the summer!

Should have said 25. Starting. We will see if you can do what you claim. Go from there.

 

[butchlambert]

i was in the skilled trades and quit working to take care of my dad in 2011 making 35 on the check and a 60 wage package. i made 100K in 2010. the wage package is now over 80 and they have more work than anytime i was there. even at that wage package they have not been able to man all the work in the last 5 years. i recently talked to an apprentice who was graduating from a 5 year pipe fitter apprenticeship and he told me he was never laid off the whole 5 years. the data centers being built are an additional boon for construction workers and more need for skilled workers. amazon just announced a 15 billion dollar data center to be built. also the power houses to run them need people to build them. i sure wish i was younger and could go out and sop up a bunch of this gravey. i dont know what its all coming to but youve had a good run Butch. mabie its time for you to think about retirement. i officially retired 4 years ago. there are some good points. i like the no ball and chain aspect of it. whatever happens i wish you the best of luck!

For me personally that would be best, but! I have a Son, Grandson, and mechanics that I worry about. My land and building have been paid off years ago.

 

[Retired shooter]

Once told my grandson, "Don't forget the trades for a career". He said not many guys want to do that kind of work anymore. Maybe he was right.

That and put their phone down.

 

[steve210]

For me personally that would be best, but! I have a Son, Grandson, and mechanics that I worry about. My land and building have been paid off years ago.

Butch, if more shop owners cared about their people it would make the job a lot better. You have people working for you for over 30 yrs., that don't happen a lot with mechanics! That's why toolboxes have wheels! sounds like you treated them right.

 

[Jonnyofalltrades]

I work as an industrial mechanic(millwright) in a manufacturing company.
I currently have two apprentices that actually have brains, work ethic, and some level of character. This is such an unusual situation for me that I hardly know what to do!
There were many years that this wasn't the case.

 

[mike mccormick]

The diesel shop I retired from has been trying to hire help for years. No one with any qualifications even applies, even for $50/hr. Every shop within 200 miles is having the same problem.

 

[Toolbreaker]

I work as an industrial mechanic(millwright) in a manufacturing company.
I currently have two apprentices that actually have brains, work ethic, and some level of character. This is such an unusual situation for me that I hardly know what to do!
There were many years that this wasn't the case.

I've been lucky on my end a couple times over the years. I've been unlucky more than a couple times, too.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I was in that trade for 15 years. Mostly engines, electrical, and diesel, but did pretty much anything. The second half of my career the shops always had a running ad and complained they couldn't find help. But when you asked for a raise, oh we just can't afford it. But when you put in your 2 weeks all of a sudden they could offer you a lot more. I worked at GM dealers. Anytime there was a good paying warranty job the time would get cut. No reason why, no new procedure to make the job go quicker. At least from my experience at dealers, they did everything they could to drive good mechanics away. Now they wonder why there are no new ones. Every apprentice I met, I told to get out before you start.

Dont get me wrong, the independent shops can do what they want and can have great work environments. But the dealers suck.

 

[DShortt]

I know, but where did they all go?

The same place the guys you lost did.

They've retired.

I'm in the railroad locomotive maintenance industry. It's the same.

 

[butchlambert]

Butch, if more shop owners cared about their people it would make the job a lot better. You have people working for you for over 30 yrs., that don't happen a lot with mechanics! That's why toolboxes have wheels! sounds like you treated them right.

We still hunt and fish together. One of them will come in and help if somebody has an extended ailment, but they aren't ready to unretire.

 

[DShortt]

I'm a electrician in the Kansas City area. We can't find people with any work ethic, but we get a lot of kids that think they deserve $38.00 an hour with no experience.

You and I are neighbors.

 

[DShortt]

This thread is actually a comment on society as a whole. Everyone wants the 'Good Life' with no effort, commitment or tolerance for adverse conditions.

Wish I was kidding, but recently a co-worker was written up for 'flatulence'. Guy has been there for 29 years. He's 60. It happens.

When you're dealing with people who can't even deal with that in an industrial setting......

Not good.

Soon, I won't have to worry about it all. And I remember hearing about how everything was going to pot 5 decades ago.

Who knows?

Not I.

 

[Fire Dog]

That and put their phone down.

That is exactly what a local electrician told me about his last three apprentices…
They are happpy to collect their money at the end of the week but work ethics just don’t seem to exist… Phone out, head down or having a cig break or just idling around unless directly being supervised… He said that he has stopped even offering apprenticeships due to it just being too stressful.
All this in an area that having a full time job is a scarcity and one that pays well even more rare…

 

[Emmett Dibble]

30+ year MB tech… 35+ years fixing cars. I don’t know what people are going to do in 10-15 years…. I’m officially the Legacy Tech in the shop and can run rings around kids litteraly half my age. Kids (for the most part) are not the same and this industry is not the same. Good luck.

 

[AccelR8]

As I was reading this thread, my sister texted me and said her thermostat on her van needs replaced. Her husband has been getting estimates. 550 to 750 bucks. Then she texted, mechanics get paid 130 to 220 dollars an hour!

I told her no, that's what you're being charged. The mechanics around here get paid about 24 bucks an hour.

 

[Knotwild]

The figures I see you guys quoting sounds cheap. I met a shop foreman for a dealer in Charleston SC (I forgot the brand) that makes and average of $140K based on commission. A guy I used to work for is also paying over $100K for a shop foreman 3 years ago. And some boys who can run a long arm track hoe on mats rebuilding rice field dikes also gets $100K.

Sad thing is that it takes that much to own a home and raise a family - inflation.

And sadder still is that Federal Reserve says my dollars are worth nothing unless it's at risk in the stock market (where the deck is stacked against me). Plus they are inflating away my retirement.

 

[timeout]

The figures I see you guys quoting sounds cheap. I met a shop foreman for a dealer in Charleston SC (I forgot the brand) that makes and average of $140K based on commission. A guy I used to work for is also paying over $100K for a shop foreman 3 years ago. And some boys who can run a long arm track hoe on mats rebuilding rice field dikes also gets $100K.

Sad thing is that it takes that much to own a home and raise a family - inflation.

And sadder still is that Federal Reserve says my dollars are worth nothing unless it's at risk in the stock market (where the deck is stacked against me). Plus they are inflating away my retirement.

Us retired guys are screwed. Too old to chance our money in the stock market, CD rates tanking, all the while taxes and inflation stealing what we have.

 

[Jsjac]

I know, but where did they all go?

When I was in high school they kept saying that there will be a shortage of mechanics.
I went to trade high school. We went to class for a week and then shop for a week.
I got a very good trade.
Good mechanics make good money. Some of the equipment dealers start mechanics between 45 and 50 per hour plus benefits. After 90 day they usually get a good bump also.
The " government schools" have been teaching kids that they need to go to college.

There is a very bad shortage of all skilled trade workers.
The government needs to stop paying people to sit home and smoke weed and eat BonBons.

 

[Knotwild]

Us retired guys are screwed. Too old to chance our money in the stock market, CD rates tanking, all the while taxes and inflation stealing what we have.

Ah, but here's a tip. Check the price of Biblical money. I wish I had known about it when I was young. I'd be sitting at the top of the mountain today.