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Take skilled trades seriously

2 min read
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A recent Observer-Reporter article concerning the shortage of skilled workers available to fill necessary jobs is not just a local problem for employers. The situation exists nationwide. A report on this shortage, by the National Association of Home Builders, states that many young people, who could be preparing themselves for high-paying jobs in all types of construction work, are not. And it is alarming.

The report states: “A poll from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) of young Americans ages 18-to-25 shows that almost no millennials want a career in construction – a high-paying industry. Sixty-four percent of these millennials said they wouldn’t even consider working in construction if you paid them $100,000 or more. What’s more stunning is that of the 26 percent who don’t know what career they want, 63 percent of these undecided millennials said there was ‘no or little chance regardless of pay’ that they would work in construction trades. In fact, NAHB further questioned these undecided adults and asked them why they wouldn’t consider construction trades. Half of them said they wanted ‘a less physically-demanding job.’ Thirty-two percent said, ‘construction work is difficult.'”

Of course, the same situation exists within manufacturing, as the Observer-Reporter reported. As history shows, this may portend a remarkable return to the decades of the great immigration waves, which transpired from 1890 until about 1925, when millions of immigrants were recruited by American employers offering work in our mills, factories and mines. With the apparent mindset many young people have adopted concerning skilled trades, is the United States heading toward another immigration wave to fill the jobs we need to be competitive in the world market?

Amazingly, the Trump administration is doing its best to stifle immigration. Unless young and healthy people take training for skilled employment seriously, we will have to import foreign workers to fill these positions, while our own youth pursue soft, cushy careers that require no physical labor.

Ronald J. Yamka

Canonsburg

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