Waffledynamics said:

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Quote:

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Colonial Pipeline's CEO testified to Congress that the reason they couldn't just manually operate the pipelines during the hack is that all the guys who knew how to do it had retired.

We're already at the "We forgot who built the aqueducts" stage of Roman decline, lol.

— Stoi (@stoiciticus) April 12, 2023

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Sounds like a training issue that has many solutions, like a lot of the doom and gloom projected in this thread.

The assumption that only boomers (and in some suggestions on this thread, white boomers), are the only ones that know and can learn how to do anything seems like a boomer superiority complex rather than a reality.

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Well, I'd say highly skilled competency comes from Americans, some Euros like Germans, Swiss and the only Asians are the Japanese.

Outside of these cultures, skills fall off fast.

TxTarpon said:

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Jokes on you boomer, I don't have a yard to mow. /s

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My first economy apartment right there. The "table" for my PlayStation was a converted wooden door with legs screwed in and attached.

Site of my first cooking experiences learning thawing frozen chicken breasts in the microwave makes for some yummy, rubbery chicken.....

Space-Tech said:

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Or, and I know this is crazy, maybe pay blue collar workers more?

Labor shortages only exist because the pay sucks. Who wants a life doing hard/technical work only to live in poverty?

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You live in poverty because of this attitude.

CDUB98 said:

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AgBQ-00 said:

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Anyone else grow up holding the flashlight or fetching tools for their dad as they wrenched on the family car/truck? That happens very rarely now. One, people don't know how to do it and two, the cars are more tech driven than mechanically driven now. This creates younger generations that don't think or wonder how everything fits together and work so that the item runs.

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Argh. I did this. I'm pretty damned handy with tools and fixing things. Hell, my senior design project was designing and building a race car. But, without the proper diagnostic tool, it's nearly impossible to figure out what is wrong with your vehicle. The good diagnostic tools cost the shade tree mechanic too much money to be worth it. Then, on top of that, it seems there's always a specialty tool needed to take off that one fitting. Sometimes you can rent, sometimes not. Then, on top of it all. everything has been packaged in a way to forced you into the dealership or mechanics shop as you have to take apart half the car just to get to something.

Just in the last two months I've had to make decisions on time vs. money for fixing items on my truck. One of them I did, one of them I could have done, and saved a few hundred, but the time factor in doing the job would have cost me just as much. It really sucked. I hated paying for it.

/End Rant

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I miss my '85 GMC. I could do a full tune-up on it myself, replace motor mounts, valves, heads, carburetor, whatever. My '22 Tundra? I can check the oil and change the battery. And I'd be hesitant to change the battery as who knows if that's going to mess up some minor electrical system that shuts the whole thing down.

Its becoming clear that in a few years we're going to have a huge shortage of all professionals everywhere and be left with just a surplus of barristas, pronoun police and grievance hustlers

CDUB98 said:

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DTP02 said:

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I don't think this shortage in transportation workers will be that big of an issue…

because our administration is currently sabotaging our energy independence by imposing so many restrictions on carbon emissions that we'll be forced into "green" technologies we don't have near the infrastructure to support.

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That's a very narrow viewpoint.

This supply chain issue is global, not just the US. We see it in our business as well. Problem is, the old guard bosses don't understand why nobody can get X piece of equipment, y valve, or z instrument in the same number of weeks they could just 10 years ago. Both internal and external clients refuse to believe, understand, or dive into the whys.

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Or it's a joke about the crap being spread on both sides of the crap sandwich.

Both of my boys bypassed college to become electricians. Their future is bright!

DTP02 said:

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CDUB98 said:

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DTP02 said:

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I don't think this shortage in transportation workers will be that big of an issue…

because our administration is currently sabotaging our energy independence by imposing so many restrictions on carbon emissions that we'll be forced into "green" technologies we don't have near the infrastructure to support.

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That's a very narrow viewpoint.

This supply chain issue is global, not just the US. We see it in our business as well. Problem is, the old guard bosses don't understand why nobody can get X piece of equipment, y valve, or z instrument in the same number of weeks they could just 10 years ago. Both internal and external clients refuse to believe, understand, or dive into the whys.

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Or it's a joke about the crap being spread on both sides of the crap sandwich.

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If that was a joke, you suck at jokes.

The "Boomer die off" will usher in a new Renaissance and Enlightenment in the West, and it can't come soon enough.

Hullabaloonatic said:

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Nanomachines son said:

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Pookers said:

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Not to worry, the hordes of 3rd worlders flooding across the boarder will stand in the gap and carry civilization for us.

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Import the 3rd world get the 3rd world!

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Immigrants made up almost one-fourth, or 23.1 percent, of all STEM workers in the United States in 2019. A vast majority of these immigrants were born in 3rd world countries (India, Vietnam, and Mexico).

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And American engineering and maintenance is much poorer quality overall than it was 40 years ago. Everything breaks quickly now.

Maroon Dawn said:

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Its becoming clear that in a few years we're going to have a huge shortage of all professionals everywhere and be left with just a surplus of barristas, pronoun police and grievance hustlers

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Reparations will solve most of that - right?

FrioAg 00 said:

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This hits home in my life.

I'm way handier than 80-90% of my generation when it comes to mechanical, materials handling, electric, etc.

But I'd be in the bottom quarter of the boomers. My 72 year old Dad still had to come help me with the really complicated projects I take on - I am constantly impressed with chit he just knows.

And I'm not going to start on the average 30 year old. We have done them a huge injustice.

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I tried to teach my 30 somethings as kids everything from coding, drywall, framing, computer repair, electrical but they kept having to go to the bathroom.

It's a failure of the education system.

HollywoodBQ said:

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Maroon Dawn said:

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Its becoming clear that in a few years we're going to have a huge shortage of all professionals everywhere and be left with just a surplus of barristas, pronoun police and grievance hustlers

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Reparations will solve most of that - right?

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I thought tearing down statues and renaming bases solved racism but here we are

FlyRod said:

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The "Boomer die off" will usher in a new Renaissance and Enlightenment in the West, and it can't come soon enough.

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No surprise you'd be popping champagne.

Maybe that explains why you're one of the biggest lovers of the WuFlu on TA.

Well this all sounds like lots of opportunity for current junior high and high school kids. I have two boys starting high school next year and a daughter right behind them, all really good at math. What engineering fields do you think will experience the most talent shortages in the next 20+ years?

FlyRod said:

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The "Boomer die off" will usher in a new Renaissance and Enlightenment in the West, and it can't come soon enough.

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Fly rod will be standing in the breadlines for our daily dose of socialist glory and tell us how amazing this is and thank God it happened so quickly

I thought the ellipses gave it away as not being serious…

but you definitely seem like the kind of fun-loving guy who'd be an authority on humor.

FlyRod said:

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The "Boomer die off" will usher in a new Renaissance and Enlightenment in the West, and it can't come soon enough.

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Will get better candidates as AI takes jobs away.

FlyRod said:

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The "Boomer die off" will usher in a new Renaissance and Enlightenment in the West, and it can't come soon enough.

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Can you define in two sentences some details as to what you mean, Karl ?

DO NOT FLAG HIS POST !!!!!!

Space-Tech said:

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Or, and I know this is crazy, maybe pay blue collar workers more?

Labor shortages only exist because the pay sucks. Who wants a life doing hard/technical work only to live in poverty?

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Do you know many plumbers, electricians, mechanics, etc.?

American Hardwood said:

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Stigmatizing labor and telling everyone they are going to be poor and have a ****ty life is wrong and has been a huge factor in creating this problem. I don';t know any conservative businessman that thinks that importing cheap labor is the answer. The businessmen in manufacturing that I know want skilled, dependable labor and would happily employ skilled US citizens and pay them well, but finding those people is hard, in part, because otherwise good young candidates have been convinced that they have to go to college and get law degrees or their life will suck.

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Sadly, I work with a guy who likes to bring over Indians on work visas because he feels like he can hire them for less money and lock them in to working for him.

The guys he hires don't cost that much less because Indian wages have gone way up plus there are minimum salary requirements for H-1B visas anyway.

So, as soon as they can jump to another job, they leave his butt and then he has to try to get a new job req opened in the middle of whatever the current financial climate is. Recently, he had 7 of his people take other jobs and so far, he's only been able to get 1 "backfill" req.

So, yeah, you're far better off to hire Americans if you can find the right people with the right skills.

TxTarpon said:

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Jokes on you boomer, I don't have a yard to mow. /s

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The funny part is, Many boomer's first place would have looked like that for a while (time based equivalents of course )when just starting out. The problem is now young people fresh out of school want the standard of living they had in highschool right away and don't understand they have to work for it.

Some of this is terrifying stuff, honestly. On top of this...they seem to be the only ones keeping the entirety of this country from becoming blue to dark blue.

WE

ARE

FOOKED

I am just trying to put my daughter in the best situation possible. Not even sure how to do that.

TxTarpon said:

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Jokes on you boomer, I don't have a yard to mow. /s

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What's the issue?

All I see is a fiscally responsible individual who purchases strictly what they deem necessary. This could easily be an engineer or other professional that is just dumping money into RE investments or Stock Investments and will retire early because they have not kept up with the Joneses. You will say "thats probably not the case." maybe/maybe not, but that picture shows nothing.

If anything, it shows that the person who made or posted it have swallowed the lure on chasing the consumer/capitalist agenda where "stuff" and displays of "success" are paramount.

As to the opening post....the Boomers took over from the greatest generation who was more competent than the Boomers were....if those morons could figure this out....then Millineals/Zers will figure it out.

Caliber said:

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TxTarpon said:

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Quote:

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Jokes on you boomer, I don't have a yard to mow. /s

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The funny part is, Many boomer's first place would have looked like that for a while (time based equivalents of course )when just starting out. The problem is now young people fresh out of school want the standard of living they had in highschool right away and don't understand they have to work for it.

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This, when my dad was a bachelor, he and his buddies were using milk crates as lamp stands.

Tex117 said:

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TxTarpon said:

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Quote:

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Jokes on you boomer, I don't have a yard to mow. /s

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What's the issue?

All I see is a fiscally responsible individual who purchases strictly what they deem necessary. This could easily be an engineer or other professional that is just dumping money into RE investments or Stock Investments and will retire early because they have not kept up with the Joneses. You will say "thats probably not the case." maybe/maybe not, but that picture shows nothing.

If anything, it shows that the person who made or posted it have swallowed the lure on chasing the consumer/capitalist agenda where "stuff" and displays of "success" are paramount.

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I think its more of a joke that young men are super utilitarian and don't care about nic nacks.

Pookers said:

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Tex117 said:

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TxTarpon said:

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Quote:

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Jokes on you boomer, I don't have a yard to mow. /s

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What's the issue?

All I see is a fiscally responsible individual who purchases strictly what they deem necessary. This could easily be an engineer or other professional that is just dumping money into RE investments or Stock Investments and will retire early because they have not kept up with the Joneses. You will say "thats probably not the case." maybe/maybe not, but that picture shows nothing.

If anything, it shows that the person who made or posted it have swallowed the lure on chasing the consumer/capitalist agenda where "stuff" and displays of "success" are paramount.

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I think its more of a joke that young men are super utilitarian and don't care about nic nacks.

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I don't think thats the joke.

Waffledynamics said:

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Quote:

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Colonial Pipeline's CEO testified to Congress that the reason they couldn't just manually operate the pipelines during the hack is that all the guys who knew how to do it had retired.

We're already at the "We forgot who built the aqueducts" stage of Roman decline, lol.

— Stoi (@stoiciticus) April 12, 2023

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Sounds like a training issue that has many solutions, like a lot of the doom and gloom projected in this thread.

The assumption that only boomers (and in some suggestions on this thread, white boomers), are the only ones that know and can learn how to do anything seems like a boomer superiority complex rather than a reality.

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As time goes by you fix it yourself or you pay someone else alot more to fix it for you. But first you have to be willing to learn how to do it yourself. The willingness is where I see most of the problem.

CDUB98 said:

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Argh. I did this. I'm pretty damned handy with tools and fixing things. Hell, my senior design project was designing and building a race car. But, without the proper diagnostic tool, it's nearly impossible to figure out what is wrong with your vehicle. The good diagnostic tools cost the shade tree mechanic too much money to be worth it. Then, on top of that, it seems there's always a specialty tool needed to take off that one fitting. Sometimes you can rent, sometimes not. Then, on top of it all. everything has been packaged in a way to forced you into the dealership or mechanics shop as you have to take apart half the car just to get to something.

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This **** they are doing with modern cars is infuriating, and you know it is on purpose. I needed to change a spark plug on my wife's Durango. Turns out you have to take out half the ****ing engine to even get to it, and you need a specialty extra long ratchet with fitting to even reach the plug and remove it.

I don't understand the stress of skilled labor retiring. Could it be painful? Sure. But with capitalism, companies who perform will be pushed to the top and those that can't, won't.

"Company ABC has always been reliable but now they suck, what do we do??"
"Company XYZ has performed well on our last few contracts, lets give them more business."

Quote:

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Sadly, I work with a guy who likes to bring over Indians on work visas because he feels like he can hire them for less money and lock them in to working for him.

The guys he hires don't cost that much less because Indian wages have gone way up plus there are minimum salary requirements for H-1B visas anyway.

So, as soon as they can jump to another job, they leave his butt and then he has to try to get a new job req opened in the middle of whatever the current financial climate is. Recently, he had 7 of his people take other jobs and so far, he's only been able to get 1 "backfill" req.

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This is a great example of the dumbass management I was referencing in a prior post. The guy is only thinking about his short-term bonus and target. He keeps surviving by the skin of his teeth is my guess.

young eugene said:

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I don't understand the stress of skilled labor retiring. Could it be painful? Sure. But with capitalism, companies who perform will be pushed to the top and those that can't, won't.

"Company ABC has always been reliable but now they suck, what do we do??"
"Company XYZ has performed well on our last few contracts, lets give them more business."

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We don't live in a capitalist nation.