Stimulate U.S. Job Market?

What Will Stimulate America's Job Market?

To read full article click on "What Will Stimulate America's" above. See quotes below.

Recommendation #1: Encourage Start-Ups.

Recommendation #2: Tax Incentives for Training and Tuition Assistance Programs.

Recommendation #3: Support Regional Business Clusters.

Recommendation #4: Invest in the Skilled Trades. end quotes

Since my father was both an electrician and an Electrical Contractor and my Grandfather and one  uncle were also Electrical Contractors and even I myself was taught the trade every summer from age 12 to 17 I'd like to share the following things from the above article.

Begin quotes.

Closing America's Job Gap reports that the United States government lags far behind other developed nations in development and funding support for skilled laborers like electricians, carpenters, plumbers, and welders.

The Reality: While there is not a comprehensive plan in place at the federal level strictly supporting skilled laborers, Robert Lerman and Stefanie Schmidt of the The Urban Institute see the issue related as much to education as it is funding. In a detailed analysis on the topic, they said "the K-12 education system needs reform if more high-school graduates are to obtain the basic math, reading, and communication skills required by most employers. Given that government training programs have limited success in increasing basic skills, public policy for adults older than age 25 should focus on making work pay through wage subsidies or decreases in employment taxes."


But the skilled-labor market faces another challenge: a shortage of people -- and public relations. The Alabama Construction Recruitment Institute (ACRI) reports that "for every person who becomes a trade worker, three or four are retiring." According to ACRI Executive Director Tim Alford, the skilled labor workforce is also riddled with misconceptions. False perceptions include that the jobs pay minimum wage, offer no growth opportunity, or involve danger. "These jobs we're talking about pay higher salaries than four-year-degree people make, and have even better benefits. We've got to get that word out," said Alford.

The Reality: While there is not a comprehensive plan in place at the federal level strictly supporting skilled laborers, Robert Lerman and Stefanie Schmidt of the The Urban Institute see the issue related as much to education as it is funding. In a detailed analysis on the topic, they said "the K-12 education system needs reform if more high-school graduates are to obtain the basic math, reading, and communication skills required by most employers. Given that government training programs have limited success in increasing basic skills, public policy for adults older than age 25 should focus on making work pay through wage subsidies or decreases in employment taxes."


But the skilled-labor market faces another challenge: a shortage of people -- and public relations. The Alabama Construction Recruitment Institute (ACRI) reports that "for every person who becomes a trade worker, three or four are retiring." According to ACRI Executive Director Tim Alford, the skilled labor workforce is also riddled with misconceptions. False perceptions include that the jobs pay minimum wage, offer no growth opportunity, or involve danger. "These jobs we're talking about pay higher salaries than four-year-degree people make, and have even better benefits. We've got to get that word out," said Alford. end quote.

Yes. My father in 1980 when he retired was making about $30 an hour IBEW  (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) union wage in San Diego. And that was 1980. $30 really went a long way then. And union plumbers then were making closer to $50 per hour.  One has to be much more skilled in many ways both mentally and physically to be a tradesman than almost any other job because if you aren't both mentally and physically competent you will endanger both yourself, your fellow tradesmen or even the people who eventually live in the house or work in the office building or warehouse. One has a lot of responsibility being a tradesman or tradeswoman and even after working a full day as an apprentice one still has to go to night school to learn all the technical and engineering things one needs to know (usually for 4 years) to become a journeyman electrician, plumber, carpenters,  welders, sheet metal workers and many others. However, to be realistic, one of the reasons I did not choose to be an Electrician and Electrical Contractor for life is that my fingers swelled up from being injured constantly by wire tips and the sharp edges of electrical boxes (they were all metal then in Los Angeles county) and from being banged by 1 inch auger drills of 1 horsepower or more that would bang you against the wall if you accidentally hit a nail when doing a remodel of a house. This was less of a problem in a brand new house because you could actually see most of the nail heads before the plasterboard was put on then. So, small injuries were a constant thing and one usually got at least one new cut or bruise every day from one thing or another. Small injuries are a constant thing in the building trades whether it is dropping something on your foot, stepping on a nail(you need thick enough boot soles so this doesn't happen) or falling off a roof while installing a roof or refrigeration system or ladders malfunctioning and falling through a set of t-bars into a pile of lumber while trying to install false ceiling wiring in an office or other industrial facility, or getting shocked when you have to work with 110, 220, 440, or higher because you can't turn the electricity off because someone needs it to do their job in their office or TV station. (All these things I experienced or saw this happen to someone while I was working). So, because I played piano and keyboards my fingers became too swollen to play (my fingers got bigger around than the keys) so I didn't want to become an Electrician or Electrical Contractor because of all these things. However, when I needed a job paying a decent wage in my 20s I already had a trade and could work (at least in California) where there are right to work laws. It's a good idea to have multiple trades in any economic situation so you always have a job and a potential backup job available. Even though I started owning my own businesses in my late 20s, in my early 20s knowing how to build things (carpentry) and knowing how to wire things (Electrician) allowed me to live in some very very beautiful places building things that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. So, if you like to Ski or Surf or live remotely, people who build things are almost always needed in beautiful areas.

Even today if I multiply $30 an hour (my Dad's retirement wage) times 40 times 4 ( a four week month) which is $4800 a month which is still nothing to sneeze at even  today 30 years later. Even during the Great Depression when my grandfather, (the first Electrical Contractor in the family took  $25,000 cash and buried it in the ground in his front yard because the banks couldn't be trusted then (no FDIC yet), still he actually had $25,000 in cash because even then it paid to be an Electrical Contractor during the Depression. Tradesmen and contractors were always needed to keep all homes and buildings operating electrically, water wise and in all ways even then. They always had jobs even when 25% of the  people had none.