Analysts tend view the real estate and mortgage meltdown crisis around financial impact of the nation. Go to the Federal Reserve History page and look up “Subprime Mortgage Crisis”. An article by John V. Duca, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, gives a lengthy explanation of how and why the crisis occurred. At the end he even discusses steps to prevent the crisis in the future. (John V. Duca, 2013) However, it is centered on legislation, interest rates and direct financial impact. For the most part, the bulk of information about the crisis is focused on such. However an often overlooked victim is the skilled labor and trade industry.
At the time construction was in heavy production. House prices had peaked and so builders were in a …show more content…
The rate has been falling for some time. Michael Collins wrote in article in April of 2015 discussing the ever-growing problem of shrinking skilled workers. (Collins, 2015) He associates recruiting skilled workers with manipulation of production goals. Large public corporations have had two goals, the first to eliminate unions and the second to lower labor costs. The strategies they used, while legal, can be argued as ethical for growth and advancement. Collins argues that the strategies are suspicious to younger workers. While legislators, educators, and industry leaders have been pushing for higher education, the focus is often on colleges. Therefore when numbers are posted comparing education versus average wage, skilled workers and construction numbers are usually at the bottom. It is difficult to convince youth to apply for apprenticeships and trade schools when the end result is a lower than average wage for a physically demanding career. Also, the cost of post-secondary education is a problem. Scholarships and financial aid rarely focus on these institutions. Students aren’t motivated to take out loans with heavy payments for years to come with less than average wage outlooks. Apprenticeships softens the blow slightly by paying students while learning the skills. However apprentices with no formal education in the skills tend to have a weaker …show more content…
The market turns around and construction trades are needed again. Unfortunately a good percentage of the workers have already fled the field and are supporting their families in other ways. To suggest they drop their jobs and come back to the construction world means asking them to leave stability and return to an unstable job market. Naturally they would expect a higher rate of pay to do so. However the pay isn’t there. Which means the only tradesmen/women that return are those that truly love the field. When combined with the problem of diminishing apprenticeships, builders are left with fewer workers to complete construction. The only options are to raise wages to attract tradesmen/women or hire workers of less skill. Increasing wages means contractors have to take the hit, therefore less skilled workers becomes the popular solution. This domino effects into longer construction times and a decrease in quality. The longer construction times creates a higher cost because the demand of new construction has been forced to wait for the labor force to recoup. Lowered quality creates lower expectations for new construction at the same timelines. Which eventually lowers the overall expectation of quality of construction in general. Following the breadcrumbs we see that with diminishing quality of construction comes diminishing expectations of
At the time construction was in heavy production. House prices had peaked and so builders were in a …show more content…
The rate has been falling for some time. Michael Collins wrote in article in April of 2015 discussing the ever-growing problem of shrinking skilled workers. (Collins, 2015) He associates recruiting skilled workers with manipulation of production goals. Large public corporations have had two goals, the first to eliminate unions and the second to lower labor costs. The strategies they used, while legal, can be argued as ethical for growth and advancement. Collins argues that the strategies are suspicious to younger workers. While legislators, educators, and industry leaders have been pushing for higher education, the focus is often on colleges. Therefore when numbers are posted comparing education versus average wage, skilled workers and construction numbers are usually at the bottom. It is difficult to convince youth to apply for apprenticeships and trade schools when the end result is a lower than average wage for a physically demanding career. Also, the cost of post-secondary education is a problem. Scholarships and financial aid rarely focus on these institutions. Students aren’t motivated to take out loans with heavy payments for years to come with less than average wage outlooks. Apprenticeships softens the blow slightly by paying students while learning the skills. However apprentices with no formal education in the skills tend to have a weaker …show more content…
The market turns around and construction trades are needed again. Unfortunately a good percentage of the workers have already fled the field and are supporting their families in other ways. To suggest they drop their jobs and come back to the construction world means asking them to leave stability and return to an unstable job market. Naturally they would expect a higher rate of pay to do so. However the pay isn’t there. Which means the only tradesmen/women that return are those that truly love the field. When combined with the problem of diminishing apprenticeships, builders are left with fewer workers to complete construction. The only options are to raise wages to attract tradesmen/women or hire workers of less skill. Increasing wages means contractors have to take the hit, therefore less skilled workers becomes the popular solution. This domino effects into longer construction times and a decrease in quality. The longer construction times creates a higher cost because the demand of new construction has been forced to wait for the labor force to recoup. Lowered quality creates lower expectations for new construction at the same timelines. Which eventually lowers the overall expectation of quality of construction in general. Following the breadcrumbs we see that with diminishing quality of construction comes diminishing expectations of