Exactly. Kids would rather get a liberal arts degree, or business administration degree and push papers at a bank for 10 bucks an hour than work as a auto tech or diesel tech for a 20/hr to start. Skilled mechanics working the floor make 60 - 70 grand a year, and managers / service advisers can easily make 80-90. This is all with a 2 year degree. I don't even have the 2 year degree I went through and learned on the job and took the ASE certification tests, but it's getting pretty hard to find anyone willing to let that slide anymore. The job isn't even as blue collar as it once was, there is a lot of high tech equipment in a modern dealership that takes a lot of training and skill to use. Ultimately you are still wrenching on cars and trucks and it's considered a "dumb" job.

Sounds like a good deal to me.

I was training to become a mechanic myself (didn't call them techs back then) myself, but due to finances, I stayed on as a driver, which I am a natural at. It has become so over-regulated and underpaid, mostly with third-world numb-nuts who drive like shit, that its a a bad joke these days to be called a "truck driver", once considered to a an honorable profession.

The title change from mechanic to technician is just another in the industry's attempts to market our field to a broader audience. I don't understand why professions like truck driving, any of the construction trades, auto repair etc get the bad reputation they have.

Mike Rowe...is that you?

Business is all about risk-taking...if you think the risk is too great, that's fine, but don't say you have a labor shortage. C'mon...do you even really trust the education system to train your workers for you? I would think a company would like the idea of training workers themselves because then they don't have to worry about whether they know the right stuff or not.

It's probably because....

1) Immigrants will do many of these blue-collar jobs for a lot less than Americans will and while I know it's controversial to say this (I'm thinking of ob & ln here), I don't see why we should pay Americans more for these jobs for no other reason than they're Americans

2) If these blue-collar workers were so valuable and really earned their salaries, then they wouldn't have to unionize to force their employers to pay above market wages...yep, I'm thinking of the good ole UAW here

3) Many of these jobs will be lost to automation in the future

1.) Business is about making money. You can't stay in business if you aren't profitable. Risk taking with no way of mitigating losses is gambling.

2.) I do trust the educational system to train workers...... Nobody thinks twice about expecting a computer programmer, accountant, teacher, engineer, or other professional to come to a job ready to work, why should I not be able to expect a mechanic to come to a job ready to work?

I have never felt very comfortable around rough blue collar types in construction or in auto shops. They tend to bark at you loudly and they act rude. Even when I'm confident that I can probably take a few of them, they still make me uneasy. I worked on a construction crew once, and I nearly got in a fight with one of the guys there. None of them liked me. When I was 16, my mother made me go to a State trade school for Automotive Service Technology. It accepted high schoolers and allowed home schoolers in for free. I did okay in the class room, but nobody wanted to be my shop partner because I didn't know anything, and all of them had extensive experience rebuilding engines or working on farm equipment. I know of at least three students who pulled their cars into the shop, just to fix their own cars on the taxpayer's dole, and wouldn't participate in any of the assigned projects in the curriculum. Since I didn't get along with anyone in the AM class, the instructor allowed me to move into the PM class, and I had the same shitty experience. Most of the students were belligerent asswipes and threatened the instructor with physical harm several times. I came close to getting into fights with two of the guys in the PM class, and one of the guys in the AM class. Every time I have to go to a tire shop, I still see the same asswipes. I'm not saying there aren't good people in those professions because I've met them, but blue collars and I don't mix very well.

Dealing with low IQ types myself, I long ago learned to blend in with the blue-collar trade. It tends to be very "macho" oriented, but I think some of that is in the dangers of the trades that we are in. Got into a few fights myself, and of course shouting matches are commonplace too.

Funny thing is when most of these fuckers see that you are not going to take any of their shit, its pretty easy to put the past behind and get along with them. They will respect you as long as you can give back as good as you got, kind of like
a "shit-test" between men.

Third-world immigrants will use any method available to save a buck, and they care little for the safety laws, IME.

In my profession, these bastards will run illegal tires, brakes that are beyond the wear limit and not adjusted, and so forth.

So yeah, if you want some safety on the roads, you have to pay for it, else it could be your life or someone who love who pays the price.

Too, when shit happens these fuckers will head straight back to their home countries to hide out after someone is hurt or killed due to their lack of human decency and respect for fellow human beings.

Yeah, most of this stuff happened when I was a teenager. I was sheltered and very thin skinned at the time.

I'm the Mexican at my work place. When everyone else is gagging that someone vomited on the floor, I'm the guy ready to clean it up. I was trained to be white collar, and the only real jobs I've ever had have been blue collar. It used to bother me, but I do what I have to do. I'm glad to have a job even if it were shoveling shit on a frozen highway in a rainstorm on the side of cliff.

Pussies can keep their desk jobs, their take out for Chinese every day, and act as though they are real men. They all bleed, they all have to piss, and I kinda enjoy the fact that they cannot hide it from me behind Gucci and Noir. They step on the little man, but without me they'd make as much sense as Paris Hilton working on a cattle ranch.

Fucking Animal Farm. "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

I'll respond to Adam and OB's points when I'm less tired, but for now, I must comment on this gem....



This is exactly my situation too. I can get jobs that are inappropriate for me (given my background), while I can't get jobs that would actually fit me. Ugh...it sucks.

Look, I'm a free-market guy. If you don't want to train people because you decide it's not worth it, then don't, but stop bitching about a mythical "labor shortage." Yeah, it is an employer's market, I get that, so they can be picky right now, but their selectivity is reaching a ridiculous level (sound familiar?). Pretty soon, employers won't even train someone to be a cashier or a receptionist. Companies USED to train people...all my older relatives (and their friends) tell me how companies used to hire people just for having a degree-ANY degree, and then put them to work making a comfortable living.
No one learns how to do a job until they actually start doing it. Education is not meant to train people for only one type of job. Our colleges and universities DON'T work for you or for any specific company...they work for all of us. Not to mention those jobs you listed all require more training than a mechanic does.



That may be true in some cases, but it's not true in every one. Most immigrants seemed to work harder, faster, and take fewer breaks than their American counterparts. Blue-collar work doesn't entitle someone to a comfortable living anymore than white-collar work does. The UAW and other unions can kiss my ass. Eventually, we won't even need immigrants...we can just train monkeys to do their jobs.