Builders say skilled contractors scarce

[A.D. Miller]

Where are the skilled people they are referring to?:confused:

Builders Adjust to a Recessionary Labor Market - Construction Management, Economic Conditions, Labor Burden - Builder Magazine (http://www.builderonline.com/construction-management/builders-adjust-to-a-recessionary-labor-market.aspx?rssLink=Builders+Adjust+to+a+Recession ary+Labor+Market)

[Don McCluskey]

Construction unemployment is at 19.2%.
AGC: Construction unemployment reaches 19.2%- 6/5/2009 1:33:00 PM - Building Design & Construction (http://www.bdcnetwork.com/article/CA6663253.html)

This article seems poorly written because in the same paragraph in which the author writes, "builders ... say they’ve aren’t having too much difficulty finding skilled and unskilled labor", he writes that they worry that they wont find enough workers when the market turns around. We don't even know when it will turn around and the author and builders are worried now? Unemployment in construction is at 19.2%. If you really want to hire someone, put an ad in the paper and offer a good wage. You will get a flood of responses.

I think this article is written to drum up support for increased visas, whereby more and more citizens of other countries can travel here to work, thus keeping wages down. Additionally, it can (falsely) motivate kids to study a trade hoping that they will easily find a job when the market turns around.

The article also references the nursing and engineer professions as jobs that are hard to find employees. But with many company layoffs, there are many unemployed engineers right now, and many more have just graduated. If companies want engineers, they only need to put an ad in the paper or online, and offer a wage that is reasonable. But like the trades, in engineering, there is a big push by large corporations (such as Microsoft) to increase the limits on H1-B visas to allow more, cheaper engineers into the country, thus artificially keeping the wages of engineers down.

I would guess that with the flood of nursing students over the last few years, that the nursing profession will also be experience a decrease in wages, and more layoffs, and that all the while hospital administrators and authors such as this one will scream that there is a shortage coming.

[Ted Menelly]

Construction unemployment is at 19.2%.
AGC: Construction unemployment reaches 19.2%- 6/5/2009 1:33:00 PM - Building Design & Construction (http://www.bdcnetwork.com/article/CA6663253.html)

This article seems poorly written because in the same paragraph in which the author writes, "builders ... say they’ve aren’t having too much difficulty finding skilled and unskilled labor", he writes that they worry that they wont find enough workers when the market turns around. We don't even know when it will turn around and the author and builders are worried now? Unemployment in construction is at 19.2%. If you really want to hire someone, put an ad in the paper and offer a good wage. You will get a flood of responses.

I think this article is written to drum up support for increased visas, whereby more and more citizens of other countries can travel here to work, thus keeping wages down. Additionally, it can (falsely) motivate kids to study a trade hoping that they will easily find a job when the market turns around.

The article also references the nursing and engineer professions as jobs that are hard to find employees. But with many company layoffs, there are many unemployed engineers right now, and many more have just graduated. If companies want engineers, they only need to put an ad in the paper or on line, and offer a wage that is reasonable. But like the trades, in engineering, there is a big push by large corporations (such as Microsoft) to increase the limits on H1-B visas to allow more, cheaper engineers into the country, thus artificially keeping the wages of engineers down.

I would guess that with the flood of nursing students over the last few years, that the nursing profession will also be experience a decrease in wages, and more layoffs, and that all the while hospital administrators and authors such as this one will scream that there is a shortage coming.

Part of the article alluded to competition at the moment and they can have the subs cutting each others throats for the work and the builders getting cheaper labor than they have in the past.

The other part you talked about was nurses. There is only one problem with nursing. They do not have enough teachers for the nursing programs in this country and have been getting a tremendous influx of nurses from foreign countries. This is from my daughter, her nurse friends, my niece in another state and her nurse friends and from many nurses I have inspected homes for.

They do not pay the nurses enough that are teaching to sustain a good supply of nurses. They receive less money than the nurse in the field and they are teaching the new nurses to do what those nurses in the field do. This is from 2 nurses I know that do teach people to be nurses. I don't know if you noticed the serious accents some of the nurses have. No they are not just from Mexico but from around the world. A quick test in the state they move to and they are sticking people in the hospital and cannot even find a vein.

[Jim Luttrall]

Skilled trades is almost an oxymoron around here unless you are talking someone with a license and even then I sometimes wonder.
I do see a little better workmanship now than I did a few years ago, but just marginally. I think mostly it is just things a slower and the less experienced workers have left the country.

[Rick Hurst]

Lost my lawn man last week.:mad: He's moving back to Mexico till the economy improves here he said. Many of his customers have had to cut the lawn services out of the budget.

rick

[Ted Menelly]

Lost my lawn man last week.:mad: He's moving back to Mexico till the economy improves here he said. Many of his customers have had to cut the lawn services out of the budget.

rick


Rick

You always bring a smile to this older face.

You poor things you. Having to cut your own grass.. My goodness, you poor folks. I would think that since you are a home inspector you would cherish the thought of actually doing something slightly physical on occasion. Maybe actually working up a sweat or getting the heart beating jjust a little quicker now and then would be in order :p

[Rick Hurst]

Ted,

I'd probably mow it if I had a mower. Once I went out and bought a brand new Honda mower that had all the bells and whistles on it. My son borrowed it after about 2 weeks and thats when I met my yard man. He even had my code to get in the garage to help himself to a cold one out of the fridge when he needed one. Nice man, he'd bring me homemade tamales all the time. I don't miss that mower at all.

rick