Plus the oil industry is a horrible job creator:
Renewables Now Employ More People Than Oil, But Canada Is Missing In Action
Clean energy employs more people than fossil fuels in nearly every U.S. state
Also consider this: A lot of millennials, including myself have no desire to work for the oil industry regardless of the pay. I will not sell my labour to be complicit in an industry that is largely responsible for the disaster that is climate change.
On trades however I agree. There are a lot of good jobs in the trades that do not require you to be complicit in destroying the planet, are in high demand and pay well.
But do what you want to do. If you want to go to university for your career do that, but the trades are an option too.
It’s also unreasonable to expect people with little to no money (or who are in debt) to be able to up and move across the country, leaving behind their support systems.
Plenty of millennials also can’t work trades. A job I was at for several years destroyed my wrist and back because speed and productivity were valued more than safety. You could do a WorkSafe refresher at the start of your shift then head down to the stock room where you were expected to lift 50lb+ boxes off of shelves higher than your head or tucked under shelves with no option but to twist. This wasn’t a Walmart, either. It was regarded as one of the better employers in no small part of the province.
And it’s a story I hear everywhere from every millennial who has worked retail or warehouse. So many have busted wrists, backs, shoulders, knees, and ankles because businesses put profits over safety and treat us like cogs that can be replaced once we get too broken.
Trades are good and all, but they’re not an option for everyone.
Calling Millenials “kids” is a bit revealing. I’m a millenial. I’m also 29 years old. These generational criticisms have no basis in reality they’re just trying to dismiss the concerns of the working class.
I’m a millennial. I turned 30 this summer.
I see this kind of discourse a lot. It serves nothing more than to mock and dismiss the very valid concerns that millennials are experiencing when it comes to the job market, the housing market and unaffordability in general that simply did not exist in the boomer generation.
Hi, I do work the trades. Specifically, I work in landscaping. You know what? It’s not an easy job. It’s, actually, very, very hard, even without any education. My boss will hire you on the spot, he’s desperate for more workers! But odds are pretty good you’ll be gone in less than 3 days – and you’re the one who quit. Know why?
Trades are super, super taxing on the body. Having worked in both retail and trades, I can say retail was easier on my body. I don’t like going home so sore and tired that I literally have no energy left to enjoy the rest of my life. I am dreading this next week because I’m going to be outdoors, soaked and chilled to the bone, for 8 hours a day. Most people do not have the willpower to keep going in these jobs.
Using power equipment for 2-6 hours (and the boss is cheap so enjoy the push mowers, they’re especially ‘fun’ uphill!), hauling 50-100 lb tarps, and working at a pace where you’re expected to completely weed a 40 square feet space in less than 5 minutes. That’s just an average day for me.
Sure, trades pay well, sure, they’re always in demand, but blurting “just get a trades job!” completely ignores that most people will not have the physical ability to even do them.
As a millennial who is a red seal licensed journeyman I was still making shit money in a trade. I went to trade school thinking it would make my life easier because academics aren’t my strong suit, but with basically everything we were told all throughout high school i had one of three options: 1. university/college with no real guarantee of work, 2. a life time of minimum wage, or 3. working a trade job.
But all I really managed to do was pay off my student loan, jump start my carpal tunnel, mess up my knees, back and shoulders. We shouldn’t have to be forced into the trade industry that the extant of it caring is wether or not you can make it into work just to make a decent living that doesn’t involve university.
Frankly the trades are also a really unstable job market. It’s contract based and people do get laid off extremely frequently. In the construction industry every day you are working yourself out of a job – you’re just hoping that something else will need to get built next. (And there are many unemployed tradespeople out there.)
One of the reasons I went into the trades was because I was told it was guaranteed well-paid work. One of the reasons I left was because I never felt secure in my job and I was employed more consistently than most of my peers. (I’d say barely half of my trades school class got jobs – and most of us took a while to get them.) It’s taxing knowing that any day you or your co-workers could be told to pack up and go home without notice.
important thread
All these millenials want full time jobs.. go work in the patch?? The trades generally even? You need little to no formal education and you make good $. I understand some people like to go to college and that’s cool but honestly. The trades could always use a lot more workers and it’s a viable, extremely reasonable option right here in front of these kids
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