Trades

stump jumper · Jun 9, 2015

Is it just me or is our country and economy in a bad need of people that can use there hands? We have a body shop and have been looking for a skilled body man. I have been asking around and all I hear is every one is looking for a good bodyman. And it's not just body work, I have several friends that own there own buisness that have the same problem. It just seems there is a huge generation gap in our tradesmen.

patooyee · Jun 9, 2015

Trades? I would kill for some people that can simply show up on time and flip ribs on a grill without burning them! Or how about someone who just shows up on time and knows how to speak to a customer using plain, proper English that doesn't have 20 lbs of metal impregnated in their face and tattoos of their 15 baby's daddy's names all the way up their neck!

rpf500 · Jun 9, 2015

That's odd. Just had lunch with a vendor of ours who owns a machine shop. He said the EXACT same thing regarding the generation gap. He can't find anyone with machinist skills and the young kids coming from the local high school apprenticeship program don't show up to work, or are late, after 30 days or so.

Dirty_Stroke · Jun 9, 2015

I'm 28 and do bodywork. I've been doing it for the past 6 years and seen many many body men come and go. None of them are my age. All 40ish and above. I guess it's a dying trade. Might be a good thing. Maybe some day there will be such a shortage of bodymen that we will be able to name our price on fixing these wrecks. Lol.

zukimaster · Jun 9, 2015

If they can't facebook it, twitter, or some **** like that! They are out of luck! I seen a 20 year old boy the other day that didn't have a clue how to jump off his truck with jumper cables! Made me want to punch him in the face!

poolman · Jun 9, 2015

I can't find help, at least good help, just common sense that wants to learn. ,, no luck for me yet at any cost

stump jumper · Jun 9, 2015

Well I see me and my group of friends are not the only ones having this problem. It just makes me shake my head when I hear people say there just isn't any one hiring.

5BrothersFabrication · Jun 9, 2015

poolman said:
I can't find help, at least good help, just common sense that wants to learn. ,, no luck for me yet at any cost

Same here. Trying to find ANYBODY semi-ok with a wrench and welder is next to impossible. The trailer repair biz is not rocket science, although the body work side of it does take some skill.

pholmann · Jun 9, 2015

This is the truth. I teach high school auto mechanics. It is a constant struggle to teach these kids to have a work ethic so I can then teach them auto and diesel mechanics. I do have a few in diesel school right now. Most are just entitled little shits.

EsPowell · Jun 9, 2015

I'm 28 and I've been weldin since I graduated high school us 2 years of trade school while I was in school. It seems ridiculously impossible to find guys my age and younger that give a **** about being good at what they do. Welders are a dying breed. Nobody wants to get hot and dirty at their job anymore. Hopefully before much longer fab shops will be forced to start paying top dollar for welders/fitters

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wgamble · Jun 9, 2015

I hired in 265 employees for our annual shutdown and maybe 50 to 60 were worth keeping around. Most of them just want to get that check. I heard many times from journeymen, "tools, i didn't bring no tools",
"I just get them out of the tool trailer". I informed them to either show up with the tools to perform their trade or to go and **** themself.

85toyo · Jun 9, 2015

My grandad owned a body shop for 30+ years and we had 1 good body man that was there the majority of that time. The other body men and painters came and went. Most of the painters seemed to have drug problems and it was just about impossible to find a body man that could put out quality work. Between that and insurance companies buying cheap parts, he decided it was time to close the doors. Sure do miss having that place.

5BrothersFabrication · Jun 9, 2015

EsPowell said:
I'm 28 and I've been weldin since I graduated high school us 2 years of trade school while I was in school. It seems ridiculously impossible to find guys my age and younger that give a **** about being good at what they do. Welders are a dying breed. Nobody wants to get hot and dirty at their job anymore. Hopefully before much longer fab shops will be forced to start paying top dollar for welders/fitters

I'm 33 and I've been a welder fitter off and on, it really sucks as a profession. I did take pride in it, but I'm suggesting to my 17 y/o brother and my sons to be engineers. They can apply that knowledge to fabrication and be better for it.

al1tonyota · Jun 9, 2015

I'm pretty good at a lot of stuff mechanic, plumber,carpenter(my newest trade I'm learning), weld, light fabrication, electrical, electronics, hydraulics,pneumatics,run equipment, once I figured out that everything works the same not much I won't take apart and fix as long as I can get parts! My problem is I'm lazy :****: unless it's something I want to do!

wont work · Jun 9, 2015

Todays youth just sucks. Only a handfull want a job that requires work for good pay. Its more of the flip a burger for $15 an hr is what they want.
Im 32 and been welding, mechanicing, and fabbing since I was really young not cause I really wanted to but because we was poor as **** and we needed to eat and live. It sucked when i was young but put me in a great place to be able to know how to work and provide for my wife and kid. I think this is where the world is messed up. Kids dont have to work for crap these days. Also the educational system cramming you gotta go to college (not a techncal college) down there throats and making them think if they can pass a test they are smart.

kboring · Jun 9, 2015

This is so true I own a glass company and its damn near impossible to find good help....

Seems like nobody can even read a tape measure nowadays

al1tonyota · Jun 9, 2015

kboring said:
This is too true I own a glass company and its damn near impossible to find good help....

Seems like nobody can even read a tape measure nowadays

That is actually one of the test to be hired on where I work!

grcthird · Jun 9, 2015

On the flip side of that, I have seen awesome auto techs get burned out putting up with company bs and getting fawked on pay, can't blame them for leaving when a company treats them bad and forgets who brings in the money. The good ones either figure out how to do it on their own or find a really good shop that appreciates them and stay there like Jacob said.

1tonyj · Jun 9, 2015

You can make more in my area with a trade than u can with a degree...a lot more if u have skills and a good work ethic!

Lampley · Jun 10, 2015

wont work said:
I think this is where the world is messed up. Kids dont have to work for crap these days. Also the educational system cramming you gotta go to college (not a techncal college) down there throats and making them think if they can pass a test they are smart.

Amen..... I have been taking my four year old son with me out on the farm on weekends ever since he could walk. I tell my wife I am tricking him into working. Now on Saturdays and in the afternoon when I get home from work he tells me he has to go with me cause he has work to do. The 11 month old is just now crawling good so before long I will have 2 of them to drag with me. This is the samething my dad did to me and my brother, and I think it helped to give us the work ethic that we have. I tell my wife a good work ethic is one of the best things I can give them.