Replies to post #378020 on Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[ajtj99]

If I have a dismissive attitude towards anything it's that many people in manufacturing think they're entitled to lifetime employment or they never need to consider another career down the road. Well, that puts you and your family in jeopardy.

When you learn how to drive, instructors tell you to "leave yourself an out." In other words, when someone cuts you off, always have an option ready to avoid a collision.

Well, smart people need to leave themselves an out in their jobs and careers.

I like to call it having life options. Those with the most life options will likely have better financial security.

Education is a good example of a life option. You could lose your house, your car, and all of your money, but nobody's ever had their brains re-posessed (although you could probably make a case that some need it).

Whether you're a real estate broker or a welder in an auto assembly plant, I am a firm believer that you need to have life options to insure the security of your future and your family's.

[skono4]

The number of tradesman in any region will be dictated by the demand for their services and that demand fluctuates greatly. When times are good everyone and his brother-in-law is out there hacking their way through making a buck. When times get tough the shops lop off all the deadwood and the slouches find some other business to exploit. The self-employed plumbers and even the licensed plumbers are NOT representative of the whole trade. On every big crew and in every big shop there are few serious professionals who direct the grunts through the project. These are the guys who can make $80-100K if they work steady in any one of the metropolitan areas that support that kind of wage. The MAJORITY of guys working in this industry make LESS THAN HALF that amount for full time work under very ugly conditions. I've been both union tradesman and licensed contractor since 1978.