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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,923
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,923 |
I’ve been a machinist for 43 years and am retiring at years end. We baby boomers are rapidly leaving all the trades but seems machinists are really leaving. My company and most nation wide are struggling to find any machinists at all. Pay is good and it’s not a particularly hard job if one gets the basics in a technical college. Almost everything we have and use is in some way touched by a machinist. We make molds to mold almost all our plastic parts and all parts to nearly everything from your auto to food prep to tools and whatever you can think of. Google machinist and read what we do to the shortage. I work for a medical device factory and make parts for surgical tables, overhead lights so surgeons can see, to scrub sinks, carts and other hospital equipment. Two types of things in this world ......things God made or things Machinists made. And if they didn’t make them. They made the tools to make them.
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Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 4,379
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 4,379 |
Those pilots don't work a lot of hours and get paid really well. Probably start with the military to get the hours. A fishing friend is a senior corporate pilot and does well. The wife's niece flies for Fed Ex because packages never complain and she wants for nothing. An ex military helicopter pilot tenant of mine quit at a local paper mill to go fly a helicopter with Minnesota execs into the Dakota oil fields.
My other auto is a .45
The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price has faded from memory
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,994
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,994 |
Plumbing, Heating & Air, Electrical all pay well. The Electrical industry was good to me. Which ever one is chosen, try to get away from Residential and into Commercial or Industrial. And keep up with the current technology.
lightman
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,953
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,953 |
So many post discussing union wages. Will the unions last? I've worked for 2 companies that had moved to get away from the union. I've worked for others that plainly said if the place went union they would close the doors or move. This includes one privately owned company that said no one, not any body would tell him how much to pay his workers. The doors would be closed & the company would cease to exist. This was not a back alley welding shop. It was a globally recognized manufacturer with a 150 employees. Another company not accepting the union is maybe one of the largest manufacturers in the..... world. They told the employees; don't do it.
Not trying to start a pro/con union discussion. Just my thoughts on the future of them. Our local, IBEW 369 was organized 100 years ago with 15 members. When I got into the apprenticeship program we had somewhere around 500 members in the early 80s. Today the local has 2600 members and can't accept everyone applying for the program. As long as we can get the same amount of work done with better quality with about 1/2 to 2/3 of the manpower on the job as the non-union tradesmen, I think we can control our own destiny. At least that has been the way in has worked in the 40 years around the Greater Louisville area. We routinely work travelers from other locals to supply workforce demands. Right now I make $42.03 /hr not including medical benefits, 401K match and retirement annuities. For that kind of money around my area, you are expected to carry your share of the load or you are sent back to the bench to work for someone else. If you have a reputation of being a poor worker, you just won't get steady work. Kind of self regulating.
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 19,253 Likes: 4
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 19,253 Likes: 4 |
Machine repair / robotics. I'd throw in CNC and if that doesn't fit his needs electrician. But, robots and repairing them is in the future. If you are really smart, programing them. kwg
For liberals and anarchists, power and control is opium, selling envy is the fastest and easiest way to get it. TRR. American conservative. Never trust a white liberal. Malcom X Current NRA member.
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Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 8,327 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 8,327 Likes: 1 |
go in the service 1st and go see some of the world,then go into a trade.
LIFE NRA , we vote Red up here, Norseman
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 14,285 Likes: 5
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 14,285 Likes: 5 |
Good God. $42 an hour for the electrician, plus benefits.
When I was driving the Big Rig, earlier this year, I made $29 an hour, driving down I 10 at 65 mph. The problem was, when I got to the terminal for a five hour unload, I got paid nothing. Over the road truck driving is a brutal job.
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,698
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,698 |
Try finding a job that has a pension for your retirement without a union. I lost a union job 30 years ago and could never find another one. Now I have retired on Social Security. Try retiring on that.
I like to do my hunting BEFORE I pull the trigger! There is only one kind of dead, but there are many different kinds of wounded.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,475 Likes: 18
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,475 Likes: 18 |
Yep! Always in demand....people are dying to see you! memtb But you rarely have a happy customer.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,475 Likes: 18
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,475 Likes: 18 |
The medical field offers a vast array of career opportunities. It is a challenging, constantly evolving profession that offers upward mobility and lets you choose where and how you want live. It is probably best to avoid it if not highly motivated and comfortable w/ being elbow deep in other folks' icky stuff.
mike r Nursing Informaticist is one such medical field specialty, and no,"elbow deep in other people's icky stuff", involved either. For someone with IT skills, take a look at getting medical IT certification. It opens a lot of doors.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,475 Likes: 18
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,475 Likes: 18 |
Try finding a job that has a pension for your retirement without a union. I lost a union job 30 years ago and could never find another one. Now I have retired on Social Security. Try retiring on that. Be sure that the union's pension fund is actually funded. There are thousands of former unions members out there who found out too late that theirs wasn't. It's become a crisis for public sector unions. I was a teamster for 18 years, long enough to be fully vested. My union conference is fully funded and I've been drawing it for 6 years now. Other conferences weren't funded and the members get nothing.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
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Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 575
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 575 |
I'm a project manager in ship repair and we are dying for pipe fitters and welders. A young man with good work ethic who is a good combination pipe fitter/welder can make BIG money working power plant outages if he wants to travel and make very good money working in ship repair or shipbuilding if he wants to stay in one location. If I could find a good pipe foreman with ship repair experience right now, I would back up the money truck to get him.
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 46,965
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 46,965 |
I'd skip HVAC and carpentry as the technicians don't get paid all that well unless they own the company, but plumbers and electricians do. I've worked as a controller for all these companies, so I do know how the wages vary.
We may know the time Ben Carson lied, but does anyone know the time Hillary Clinton told the truth?
Immersing oneself in progressive lieberalism is no different than bathing in the sewage of Hell.
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,953
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,953 |
Good God. $42 an hour for the electrician, plus benefits.
When I was driving the Big Rig, earlier this year, I made $29 an hour, driving down I 10 at 65 mph. The problem was, when I got to the terminal for a five hour unload, I got paid nothing. Over the road truck driving is a brutal job. My uncle was a truck driver his entire life. Drove and unloaded local in Louisville KY. It would have driven me mad, the way small vehicle don't respect 80,000 lbs of rig sharing the highway. A good truck driver never is paid what he is worth in my book. Beat to hell all day and putting up with minivans with women putting on their makeup. Always appreciated the service they provided. For $42.03/hr, I don't mind paying my fair share of Union Dues. Never missed them in the 33 years I've been paying them.I 'll get a $1.02 raise first week of November.
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 13,949
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 13,949 |
Try finding a job that has a pension for your retirement without a union. I lost a union job 30 years ago and could never find another one. Now I have retired on Social Security. Try retiring on that. Non government, non union jobs that offer defined pensions to new hires are getting more and more rare every year, offering instead a employer specific matching X% to employee's personal 401k contribution. Many of the older, still existing defined pension and retired employee benefit programs (including gov't and union) are/were underfunded and often being challenged in courts, asking commitments be reduced substantially or released from some or all commitments, including even those of already retired.former employees.
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 5,333
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 5,333 |
I'd skip HVAC and carpentry as the technicians don't get paid all that well unless they own the company, but plumbers and electricians do. I've worked as a controller for all these companies, so I do know how the wages vary. That's very good info. to know.
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,953
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,953 |
Try finding a job that has a pension for your retirement without a union. I lost a union job 30 years ago and could never find another one. Now I have retired on Social Security. Try retiring on that. Non government, non union jobs that offer defined pensions to new hires are getting more and more rare every year, offering instead a employer specific matching X% to employee's personal 401k contribution. Many of the older, still existing defined pension and retired employee benefit programs (including gov't and union) are/were underfunded and often being challenged in courts, asking commitments be reduced substantially or released from some or all commitments, including even those of already retired.former employees. We are offered a defined annuity as well as a one time payout ranging from $420K to $600K depending on years of service. I plan on retiring in four years and seriourly considering the one time payment. I believe I can invest and do more with the money myself and not have to worry about what you speak of in the way of future annuity payments.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 15,928 Likes: 1
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 15,928 Likes: 1 |
Look into the Johnson O'Connor Institute. pm sent.
There are 2 rules to success:
1. Never tell everything that you know.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 45,325 Likes: 25
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 45,325 Likes: 25 |
Where are you located elelbean? Or should I say where is the young man located?
Tug boat work can be quite a profitable way of making a living. Drawbacks are living on a boat for days/weeks at a time. Working "watches", which ain't for everyone. Being away form wife and family if one has those. If a kid is single and looking to get a start though, one can make some decent bank in a few years, especially a kid with a good work ethic willing to put in OT.
Hard outdoor work, good food generally provided by the company (not sure about little mom and pop outfits, but the bigger companies feed their crews very well). Newer boats are luxurious for sure, older ones can be "interesting" to live on. And depending on the company, work for a week or two, off for a week or two. Planned right, lots of time for hunting, fishing, vacationing.
If a person works hard, is interested in getting a license and being a Captain or Pilot, they can really do well. Especially in a bigger Union outfit.
Again, good luck to your nephew.
Geno
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men. In it is contentment In it is death and all you seek (Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
member of the cabal of dysfunctional squirrels?
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 14,285 Likes: 5
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 14,285 Likes: 5 |
Four years ago I built an addition onto my log cabin. I did all the carpentry, and also did all the wiring. Good thing because, these electricians are getting about $70 an hour around here, for these little jobs. Besides, it is hard to get an electrician to even show up to do a bid on a log cabin they just don't like 'em. I did the wiring and it turned out real well this is the fourth log cabin that I have wired. I love to do wiring.
But I don't like plumbing. We had one bathroom for the addition, with, one washing machine, one shower, one toilet and one sink. Pedestal sink. The plumber came out and said he wanted $70 an hour, here again hard to get a plumber to show up, to drive way out into the country and drive our 3/4 mile driveway for a little job. He said he would do a bid for $2200 but it would come out to about $70/hour.
We clocked the guy, he worked at our house for 9 hours. He came out 3 times, one hour per trip. And he probably spent 2 hours at the plumbing supply store. I picked up the shower, and the sink, and the toilet at Lowes all he had to buy was plumbing stuff. Also, I installed the shower, the fiberglass part, and he plumbed it up.
So this guy spent about 14 hours, counting travel, for $2200. $157 per hour. So, if you live in the rural mountains of North Carolina, would you rather be a carpenter at $15 an hour, or a plumber at $157/hour?
He said he preferred to be paid in cash, said it was "easier on the book keeping." I didn't just fall off a turnip truck, that means, no book keeping, no pesky income tax.
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