Rick 0920
Senior Member
- Location
- Jacksonville, FL
- Occupation
- Electrical Instructor
There are a lot of different factors about why the younger generation of workers do not seem to be as skilled as those before them. One that is often overlooked today is the fact that consumers today will continually accept subpar work! It's true! Look back to the early 80's when I entered the trade. If I had a job where the device plates weren't level or flush to the wall, someone was going back to fix them. Today, builders and other forms of services have learned what the auto industry has done for many years. Wear the consumers down. Do the work as quickly as you can and make the consumer come up with a punch list. Chances are, they won't find everything you would find if you had been meticulous. After a few punch lists and walks of the property, consumers are like, "Ughhhhh!, just let me sign and get this over with. I want to move in!" It's not that todays apprentices can't be as skilled as we were. It's that they have been taught that they don't have to be. When consumers stop accepting sub-standard work, you will see better skilled workers because it will become a requirement. About 4 years ago, my daughter bought a new home in Dallas and was excited for me to see it. She paid a little under 500K for this home. The baseboards looked like a rollercoaster when you looked down the walls and I could see tape joints through the watered-down paint on the walls. AND SHE WAS HAPPY ABOUT HER PURCHASE! My last year as a foreman I completed a 2 1/2 year job in Oklahoma City and had a very small punch list. The company had just been handed over to the 28 year son to run. I was told that I could have made more money if I wasn't so particular about my work and that the owner would have never complained about many of the items that I had my guys make look better. Believe me guys, our younger workers are just as skilled as we are. Society just says that they don't have to be.