Well Aint This Something

[slonezp]

Why work for a firm? I don't claim to know anything about the accounting business. I do know my sister worked for one of the top firms out of college and hated every minute of it. My father on the otherhand worked at the coporate level in accounting and then insurance for a worldwide automotive chain for 30 years, all the while running his own firm out of our basement. He's 75 and currently works for my sister, because my mother would kill him if he was home all day.

My life would be different if I made different choices. I didn't and this is where I am and who I am. No regrets.

Keep plugging away and strive to better than the other guy. 

[Root beer]

Why work for a firm? I don't claim to know anything about the accounting business. I do know my sister worked for one of the top firms out of college and hated every minute of it. My father on the otherhand worked at the coporate level in accounting and then insurance for a worldwide automotive chain for 30 years, all the while running his own firm out of our basement. He's 75 and currently works for my sister, because my mother would kill him if he was home all day.

My life would be different if I made different choices. I didn't and this is where I am and who I am. No regrets.

Keep plugging away and strive to better than the other guy.

When you're young and you work in the audit division for those Big 4, the experience is incredible. Least I always thought so..

[flyfisher]

Im going to have to disagree with you on this one. There are plenty of jobs. People are too lazy or to proud to want to work them. Which is worse? Attempting to support your family by working a menial job or sponging off others? I see no work ethic in the up and coming generation. There are plenty of trade jobs available. In fact there is a shortage in the trades. Yet the college graduate that cant find a job or has been let go of wont look to the trades for work. Why is that? Because the work is more physically demanding and you have to earn your pay.

I agree with almost everything except the part where you say you have to earn your pay implying people who don't work physical jobs don't do so.

I did construction work through high school and summers in college as well as working for my dad who owned his own electrical contracting company. So I see your point of physically earning your paycheck but mentally earning one can be more taxing then physical.

I am currently a process engineer at a major bank and while I work in an office I am just as tired as when I did roofing. Yeah my back isn't sore or my feet hurt but I can come home and be mentally exhausted after a long day.

This is probably going to come across wrong and I am by no means ripping anyone's occupation but analyzing data and having to make decisions on company wide processes which could potentially impact 100's of people's jobs is worse than performing construction or other types of trade work in my mind.

There are plenty of times I tell myself I wish I could just go back where someone said I want siding, windows and a new roof on my house and I would work with a few guys on my crew and just do it. Nothing really to worry about when I got home, unless there was rain in the forecast and we didn't tarp up a house where now I go home check emails and constantly wonder if the decisions I am making and proposing to senior management is the right call for the business and also for the potentially impacted associates.

Bottom line is trades will not go away because you can't outsource when your HVAC goes out or you want a new deck but there is also a mentality shift that needs to happen because there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a plumber, electrician, carpenter, mechanic etc....hell my dad put me and my 3 siblings through private school and 3 of us graduated college and 2 have post grad degrees all while he dropped out in the 9th grade and got his GED but he instilled a work ethic that has translated to my corporate world as I went from a call center rep and 4 promotions later to my current role in 7 years.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

I agree with almost everything except the part where you say you have to earn your pay implying people who don't work physical jobs don't do so.

I did construction work through high school and summers in college as well as working for my dad who owned his own electrical contracting company. So I see your point of physically earning your paycheck but mentally earning one can be more taxing then physical.

I am currently a process engineer at a major bank and while I work in an office I am just as tired as when I did roofing. Yeah my back isn't sore or my feet hurt but I can come home and be mentally exhausted after a long day.

This is probably going to come across wrong and I am by no means ripping anyone's occupation but analyzing data and having to make decisions on company wide processes which could potentially impact 100's of people's jobs is worse than performing construction or other types of trade work in my mind.

There are plenty of times I tell myself I wish I could just go back where someone said I want siding, windows and a new roof on my house and I would work with a few guys on my crew and just do it. Nothing really to worry about when I got home, unless there was rain in the forecast and we didn't tarp up a house where now I go home check emails and constantly wonder if the decisions I am making and proposing to senior management is the right call for the business and also for the potentially impacted associates.

Bottom line is trades will not go away because you can't outsource when your HVAC goes out or you want a new deck but there is also a mentality shift that needs to happen because there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a plumber, electrician, carpenter, mechanic etc....hell my dad put me and my 3 siblings through private school and 3 of us graduated college and 2 have post grad degrees all while he dropped out in the 9th grade and got his GED but he instilled a work ethic that has translated to my corporate world as I went from a call center rep and 4 promotions later to my current role in 7 years.

I was refering to earning your money doing physical labor for it. Seems to me there are very few college grads out there that are willing to do a hard days work. To be frank with you though I honestly not to have a know it all college kid on my job. They seem to get in the way and you cant tell them a dang thing. Cause they already "know" everything. Plus heaven forbid they get a dirt on them. You would think the world was coming to an end.

Also how dare you rip the trades by calling them easier than being a carpet walker. I watched my very good friend ride off in a ambulance after a 8000 amp switch gear shorted phase to ground and exploded in his face. The arc flash was so hot it melted his safety glasses and liquefied a aluminum grounding clamp and sprayed it across the room like it was water. He was ok by the way. On another job a 15kv line had been made up incorrectly in a distribution switchgear and shorted to ground taking the other two phases with it. The ensuing Arc Blast blew the steel doors fifty feet off the building and into a parking lot. The problem on the cable? When the cable was stripped out a vertical indention had been left in the insulation below the semiconductor. Meaning it hadnt been sanded completely clean. One little indention caused that. 1 life isnt worth a hundred jobs. Really though Im just giving you a hard time. I know what you meant. I just cant help myself. On a serious note though dont confuse the dangers of what comes with my trades as being similar to residential work. I work heavy industrial construction and the dangers are very real and very much there. The electric alone is enough to vaporize you. My buddy got very lucky. A Brother Iron Worker of mine fell 11 stories and bounced off the steel beams until he slammed into the concrete ground. He has lost the use of his right leg and it drags behind him when he walks. Both his shoulders are busted up. The knee on his good leg is going out again too. This happened 20 years ago to him and he still walks the iron every day. He is like Frankensteins freaking monster. He is also one of the hardest workers I have ever met in my life and works circles around any twenty year old that comes on the job.

Also I dont know how yall can deal with what yall deal with. Im sorry but when im done for the day, im done. Yall leave the office and then spend all night doing emails. Id rather have the peace of mind that comes from not having to bring my work home with me. I would say I hope your being paid for it. I just dont think it works that way.

[flyfisher]

Yeah I have seen my fair share of accidents too. I remember seeing a guy up on a 30ft ladder get an arc to his chest. I could see it from the ground and it was probably a good 3 foot jump. He obviously fell and the docs said the only reason he lived was when he hit the ground it jolted his heart and it got back to pumping, scary stuff.

And the same stuff you see on the job site I see in corporate America too.....people just graduating college with a business degree but no experience who know how to do everything. Luckily in my line of work I can let them fail and learn with no real ramifications, on the job site that is rarely the case.

[slonezp]

I was refering to earning your money doing physical labor for it. Seems to me there are very few college grads out there that are willing to do a hard days work. To be frank with you though I honestly not to have a know it all college kid on my job. They seem to get in the way and you cant tell them a dang thing. Cause they already "know" everything. Plus heaven forbid they get a dirt on them. You would think the world was coming to an end.

 

Or pick up a broom and sweep the shop. I don't get it. When they send a "kid" out o the job to give you a hand, it turns into a babysitting gig. Guys on the phone and texting. Start time at 7:00 and it's 3:00,  they want to go home even though the job isn't done, yet he showed up late because he overslept. I just look at it like job security.

Raider, I wrote up work for an electrician on a panel a couple years ago at a refrigerated warehouse.  Boss asked me to do it and I denied because I didn't feel comfortable. I'm not required to do that work per the contract anyway. Boss asked another guy he knew wouldn't say no. Just to save a buck. He's lucky to be alive today. He somehow shorted out the panel and blew the main outside. The blast threw him 20 feet. From what I recall the fuses at the main cost my company a grand a piece.

I'm still sitting at home from my surgery. Doctor is saying about 5 more weeks of therapy and that's about all I'm going to get from my shouder. Where I'm sitting, that's not good. Unless a miracle happens, I'm worried I may be forced to join the otherside  and become a carpet walker.

[flyfisher]

My dad always told me there is always work to do and to always look busy. If the job is done and it isn't quitting time then the rucks can be washed, reorganized shop cleaned etc....unfortunately I have lost a little of that since I am salaried now but that is more because I know that for every day I cut out early a few hours there are two others where I am staying late.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

Or pick up a broom and sweep the shop. I don't get it. When they send a "kid" out o the job to give you a hand, it turns into a babysitting gig. Guys on the phone and texting. Start time at 7:00 and it's 3:00,  they want to go home even though the job isn't done, yet he showed up late because he overslept. I just look at it like job security.

Raider, I wrote up work for an electrician on a panel a couple years ago at a refrigerated warehouse.  Boss asked me to do it and I denied because I didn't feel comfortable. I'm not required to do that work per the contract anyway. Boss asked another guy he knew wouldn't say no. Just to save a buck. He's lucky to be alive today. He somehow shorted out the panel and blew the main outside. The blast threw him 20 feet. From what I recall the fuses at the main cost my company a grand a piece.

I'm still sitting at home from my surgery. Doctor is saying about 5 more weeks of therapy and that's about all I'm going to get from my shouder. Where I'm sitting, that's not good. Unless a miracle happens, I'm worried I may be forced to join the otherside  and become a carpet walker.

Traitor!!!!

Its hard to keep a good tradesman down. If you cant stay in the field. Then work the shop. Just view it as having done your time, and letting the next gen do the hard stuff.

[Nitrofreak]

Traitor!!!! Its hard to keep a good tradesman down. If you cant stay in the field. Then work the shop. Just view it as having done your time, and letting the next gen do the hard stuff.

 

Oh how true that is, in todays economy it difficult, many employers are using people within the enviroment to do multiple tasks, "wear a lot of hats"

 

Today I am a shop forman and have been for quite some time, I take care of training, which includes a big time loss of cash to the dealership if the training becomes below minimum standards,  tools, customers, management, employees, and all the vehicles, along with all the shop's equipment, welders, computers, heaters etc...we support local programs as well to bring in outside sources and we also bring in graduates from local collages and traing centers, among many of the other tasks I perform is a gading level for the tech that enters our field, one time I had a kid, whom I may say was very very smart, actually tell me and my boss that he was there to take my job after the 90 day probation was up, the kid was very book smart to say the least, the very first day after following me around, quit, he did not realise that he was going to have to work like that, his statement was that he thought my job was to deligate, and to a small degree it is, but it's both mentally and physically challanging everyday, I guess in short he really did not want my job after all.

 

I was brought up in this enviroment and have seen many changes over the years, with many more to come, I am 50 years old now and speaking of changing carrers now would be out of the question, I have looked into different careers and no one is looking for the older generation, it does not matter if you were to graduate at the top of your class, they are simply not looking for that, at least not in my area.

[slonezp]

Traitor!!!! Its hard to keep a good tradesman down. If you cant stay in the field. Then work the shop. Just view it as having done your time, and letting the next gen do the hard stuff.

I'd get fired or quit if it came down to that. I'm doing whatever I can to get healed. It's a good feeling the boss is awaiting my return. I've kept in contact with him thru all this. He's a fellow fisherman, and last week I sold him some electric downriggers from my fathers boat for one helluva price. 2 less things in my garage.

[Bankbeater]

It will be an insurance and legal nightmare the first time a driverless vehicle is in an accident. 

[Fishing Rhino]

Having been in manufacturing, (woodworking and fiberglass fabrication) and commercial lobstering I was always looking for ways to improve production without increasing labor.  Primarily all improvements came in the area of materials handling.  Didn't matter if it was finding a better way to handle the fishing gear or the materials used in fabrication, the principle remains the same.

 

When I was the general manager of a production woodworking shop I noticed that on the drilling and machining operations, the operators had the materials to be machined to their left or right, and the materials that they had machined on the opposite side.

 

I moved both loads of material to the same side.  They would pick up the piece from cart, machine it and turn back to that side, place it on the finished materials' cart and then grab another piece that needed to be machined.  One, ninety degree turn for both "cycles" of the operation, where it had been 180 degrees before.  It was easier, and it was faster.  Now, we had an advantage over the competition who still were doing it with a 180 degree turn for a complete "cycle". 

 

To survive, and to thrive in the competitive business world, you need to produce the same quality product at a better price, or a better product at the same price.  You need to provide an incentive to attract customers.  Materials cost and overhead is what it is.  Labor is the big variable, and it's the place management looks to reduce production costs.

 

If you think robots have reduced the need for human labor, you are correct.  But, consider this.  Assembly lines did the same thing.  If your competition is using robotic manufacturing, you'd better follow suit, or you'll be left in the lurch.

[SirSnookalot]

One of the things that manufacturing companies like best about robotic use is, no labor disputes, no healthcare, no vacation time or personal days off, you don't even have to turn the lights on for them.  There expensive but the money is recouped in a timely fashion.  They do malfunction at times so the need for technicians is always there.  Many of the companies I serviced were quite computerized and used robotics.

 

Hard work is hard work regardless of how it's done, whether it be by your back or by your wits.  Owning a scrap metal co at times I did everything.  I started out driving trucks, the day didn't end with that, I had to always be soliciting new accounts and take care of all the book keeping aspects and paying my customers.  Once I got yard that's when the real work began, if an employee didn't show up me or my partner hopped onto a truck with 6 axle trailer, or drove a hi lo or bobcat for loading, even operated cranes and front end loaders.  The office tasks still continued, but the hardest part of it all was having to make payroll, pay taxes, fix equipment, etc etc etc when business was slow, and always trying to satisfy the customers, no harder work than stress.  Never a day went by without aggrevation, I thrive on stress.........lol