If some guy in Mexico can do your job for pennies...

[vc1111]

I heard a very interesting conversation today....

A man said that he was encouraging his son to become a tradesman...a brick-layer of something like that. Why? Because he stated that people that do hard work are not fairing badly in this battered economy. He said that if you are willing to do the hard work, there will always be a place for you.....

He went on to comment on other occupations:

" If someone in Mexico can do your job for pennies, your job isn' t worth much and you should consider doing something else."

Interesting view.

[Jorgy]

" If someone in Mexico can do your job for pennies, your job isn' t worth much and you should consider doing something else."

That is a pretty good quote, and I agree with it 100%

Although I would have to add that I would never try to persuade my kids (even though I don' t have any yet) to become a bricklayer, but only because that I one friggen demanding job.

[fng]

" If someone in Mexico can do your job for pennies, your job isn' t worth much and you should consider doing something else."

Around here all the mexicans are in the trades.....

None are in engineering, so the corporations import the H1B' s from China and India.

There are NO safe jobs, no matter how smart you are or how hard you work. The bottom line is the bottom line.

A company I worked for spent millions upon millions training foreign engineers in their own land to do work that we could have done for 1/100th the price and 1/10th the time. For the first time these twisted sob' s were looking" long term" and came to the conclusion that the hit now would pay off in low wages in the future.

They ended up just buying the plant over in India and shipping the engineers here to train- after they laid off about 90% of their staff.

[Briman]

I know a couple of masons- stone masons and bricklayers- they work their @sses off but own alot of nice toys

I' m not too woried about my job as a chemical plant operator, the quickest way to get killed is to not have a college degree or decade of experience and be turned looose to handle, mix, and react hundreds of gallons of hazardous chemicals.[X(]

[vc1111]

It is interesting that some of the more back-breaking jobs are surfacing among the most secure in America in these rough economic waters. Other jobs that seem prolific include those like landscape maintenance and grass cutting. I know of quite a few guys in the area that cut grass and they have a hard time keeping up with the demand. They are always busy doing something that many people hate to do.

fng, I am aware of the fact that engineers, at least electrical engineers don' t seem to be in demand right now. I can' t understand that. It would seem that such bright people would be able to fill a variety of slots. My son was attending college for electrical engineering and dropped out of that program after he got a feel for the job market and the pay scales in this area and elsewhere. When I looked at the numbers, I can' t argue with him.

The downside of the information age is that people can reach out for other markets for production...including labor.

Perhaps eventually the pendulum will swing the other way and demand for American products and services will be balanced once again.

It would be nice it we were to demand a level playing field for trade on a global basis. America plays too nice in that forum.

[Cougar Mag]

I agree with much of what you say VC. But there are also many back breaking jobs in America lost to Mexico simply because of the costs.

A sidenote.....have you noticed the difference in quality between most American made products compared to same Mexican products? Not just Mexican made either...check out fishing equipment, clothing, shoes, boots, etc made in China, Korea, Taiwan, Pakistan, India along with some others. The quality overall is just not there in many formerly made American products. Junk is what most are now, but we buy because they are cheaper.

[8mm/06]

Everyone that wants to work ..can. (except for those incapacitated with illness) It' s just a matter of what they are willing to do. Some jobs aren' t as palatable as others.
I won' t get this quote perfect....but it is a favorite of mine....
Robert Frost once said..." The world is full of willing people.. some are willing to work...the rest are willing to let them"

[Briman]

I agree with the idea that the stuff that comes out of Mexico is low quality crap. My wife works for a certain Milwaukee manufacturer that builds loud, 2-wheeled vehicles. She does much of the purchasing for the engine parts. She absolutely dreads when a supplier moves their operations to mexico, because it often times means that she has to track down replacement parts for items that weren' t made correctly the first time, and often times means she has to find a new supplier in order to avoid shutdowns of the assembly lines due to quality and delivery issues.

You simply can' t pay a man $0.20 per hour and expect to get a product worth owning.

[n4deer]

if you want to pay peanuts, you are going to get monkey help.

[fng]

It is interesting that some of the more back-breaking jobs are surfacing among the most secure in America in these rough economic waters.

You can' t ship the job of a carpenter overseas! It would be too expensive to have chinese carpenters build a house and ship it over here.