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Old 09-13-2011, 06:06 AM
 
Location: Melbourne oz
112 posts, read 363,512 times
Reputation: 129

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First of all I am not looking to move to America until the economic crisis is over (I am prepared to wait). I am curious to find out what (if any) skill shortages are. Where can I find out about the skill shortage list. I have tried googling but no luck. thanks in advance!
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Old 09-13-2011, 06:52 AM
 
Location: Portland, OR
8,802 posts, read 8,898,352 times
Reputation: 4512
Quote:
Originally Posted by coming2america View Post
First of all I am not looking to move to America until the economic crisis is over (I am prepared to wait). I am curious to find out what (if any) skill shortages are. Where can I find out about the skill shortage list. I have tried googling but no luck. thanks in advance!
Do you want to trade places with me? I'll move to Australia in a heartbeat.
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Old 09-13-2011, 07:15 AM
 
Location: Boca Raton, FL
100 posts, read 328,881 times
Reputation: 134
Alright, here's what I'm gonna do for you.

I'm gonna make u an offer u can't refuse.
I am going to offer you my condo in florida to stay in, while I live in Australia.

We'll switch places. You "come to America" and I will "go to Australia"
I'll essentially give you my identification... anything from birth certificate, social secutiry card, passport, drivers license, anything else you may need. I have decent credit, so you should be fine.

I'll take over you identity in Australia. I'm pretty damn good at an ozzie accent after I toss a few back as well.

We'll try it out for a year. See how it goes. If it's working out than we'll make it a permanant gig.

as far as skills shortage. No offense dude, but we pretty much fill any skill shortage with people from India or Bangledesh. Being that we have so many people trying to immigrate here as it is...it's like there's a back log of "skilled people" trying to get in still.

Just out of curiosity, why are u trying to leave Australia? Aren't they doing better than USA economically anyway?

If I were you, I'd just move to Brisbane and call it a day.
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Old 09-13-2011, 07:20 AM
 
Location: Arkansas
1,230 posts, read 3,176,369 times
Reputation: 1569
Quote:
Originally Posted by coming2america View Post
First of all I am not looking to move to America until the economic crisis is over (I am prepared to wait). I am curious to find out what (if any) skill shortages are. Where can I find out about the skill shortage list. I have tried googling but no luck. thanks in advance!
Skill shortage would be most skilled trades such as Electrician (one's that know commercial and industrial anyway...residental is not even in the same ball park) plumbers, welders, HVAC technicians, mechanics, machinist and various other trades.
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Old 09-13-2011, 07:34 AM
 
Location: The Triad
34,090 posts, read 82,975,811 times
Reputation: 43666
Quote:
Originally Posted by sherrenee View Post
Skill shortage would be most skilled trades such as Electrician (one's that know commercial and industrial anyway...residental is not even in the same ball park) plumbers, welders, HVAC technicians, mechanics, machinist and various other trades.
The rub...
is that aside from "it's always good to know stuff" no matter how good you might become with any of those skills while in AU the time you put in doing that won't count one bit toward what the licensing required to do most of those jobs anywhere that pay scales are worth working for insists on. You'll have to start over as a green apprentice.
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Old 09-13-2011, 08:34 AM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,186,228 times
Reputation: 57821
Quote:
Originally Posted by sherrenee View Post
Skill shortage would be most skilled trades such as Electrician (one's that know commercial and industrial anyway...residental is not even in the same ball park) plumbers, welders, HVAC technicians, mechanics, machinist and various other trades.
It depends on where you are. Go to any of the trades union halls around here and you will find that there is no shortage of people looking for work.
Commercial and industrial new construction has just about stopped, and there are many vacancies so no need for as much service. I would say that with this economy there are no shortages of any skills. Even the big high tech companies that are hiring here are able to fill the positions from people out of college or that have been laid off from smaller companies that have gone under.

The trick is to predict what might be needed when the economy eventually gets better.
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Old 09-13-2011, 09:26 AM
 
4,463 posts, read 6,229,056 times
Reputation: 2047
There are no skill shortages in the USA there is a shortage of decent bill rates. The companies cant get the skilled people because they are not willing to pay for it. So they try to import "skilled trades" from india, china, etc but it usually turns out to be the same as buying steel from china .... its junk.

Nothing will change until the boarder is closed and bill rates get back up to where they should be, if this crisis goes on too long there truely will be a shortage because who wants to go to school to be a welder for 15$/hr or any other trade, small dips in a given trade are ok but huge dips can be disaster because it soon becomes an unattractive choice of work if there is no money there. It will take a generation or 2 for people to forget what buisnesses did to that trade before people start doing it again.

Hard working people with go getem personalities are not going to be wooed with 15-20$/hr.
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Old 09-13-2011, 09:54 AM
 
Location: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ ̡
7,112 posts, read 13,157,837 times
Reputation: 3900
This post reminds me of this ...

What jobs are on the skills shortage list in America? - Yahoo! Answers
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Old 09-13-2011, 02:28 PM
 
Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan
29,825 posts, read 24,908,096 times
Reputation: 28520
There is a definite shortage of highly skilled tradesmen, but I definitely agree pay has a lot to do with that, as well as the public's opinion of them. Many trades we're once considered prestigious, but no more. As such, management has trouble viewing a skilled tradesmen as being worth the same as a white collar type on the same level. I've been in the trades for 8 years of my life, and it has only been getting worse. Not so much for me, but for the people looking to start right now. These jobs won't pay crap until an entry level or apprentice starts gaining experience. If he stays with the same company, they will never pay him what he's worth because they figure... If he worked for 9/hr when he was 18, he should be happy to work for 13/hr at 24! Sure, they may not be as productive, but they still gotta eat! They complain that young people aren't willing to put in the effort to learn and work hard... Well I would ask, why should they if wages are so low? If I had to start from the bottom in my trade today, I'd be running for the door!

It used to be that an aspiring tradesman would get paid more than he produces because he is viewed as an investment. Businesses now have no desire to invest in young talent, they feel there should be people lining up to take these jobs at crap pay. Of course, there are... Lines of illegals. That's why there is no actual shortage of willing and aspiring tradesmen in this country, but if the border was closed and they we're sent back? This country would fall apart at the seems and productivity would screech to a halt.

The unions that represent these trades have really lost a lot of power of the years as well. Sure, a journeymen electrician can make +30/hr with the union... But an illegal will do it for more than half the price. This has effected so many trades from electricians/plumbers/welders/machinists/HVAC.... The list goes on. There is NOTHING the unions can do to stop this, because it's up to the consumer to decide, and money speaks louder than ever. To hell with quality anymore, it just isn't worth it apparently. The public really doesn't have a high opinion of trade unions either. they've been trained to turn on their protectors. The antics of the UAW painted a very bad image over the past few decades, but not every union behaved this way.

Also consider how one learns a trade. It used to be that you would work during the day and study your trade in the classroom at night. Well, to give you an example, most of the programs for my trade have been closed down. The bosses have no interest in paying for a learning tradesman's education, that should be on him. Most learning is done on the job now, and there are many that never really learn much because they are put on one job for years. We have a lot of subpar younger tradesmen because nobody bothered to train them the way they did 40 years ago. For the boss, that works great. From what I have seen in my trade, they will pay a few well rounded machinists very well, and have them babysit all the subpar ones, who are paid crap. Once in awhile, a prodigy will emerge, and they will train him up, but there is a lot of tricks and skills not getting passed down like before.

Anyways, you would probably be much better off getting into a trade in Australia. They have much stronger unions, more opportunity to training, and it would seem as though tradesmen are treated better there. About a year ago, I was very close to moving there myself, and the pay is better there for the work I do. Problem is though, everything is more expensive there, so I can still do pretty good here. Good luck.
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Old 09-13-2011, 02:46 PM
 
4,463 posts, read 6,229,056 times
Reputation: 2047
Quote:
Originally Posted by andywire View Post
There is a definite shortage of highly skilled tradesmen, but I definitely agree pay has a lot to do with that, as well as the public's opinion of them. Many trades we're once considered prestigious, but no more. As such, management has trouble viewing a skilled tradesmen as being worth the same as a white collar type on the same level. I've been in the trades for 8 years of my life, and it has only been getting worse. Not so much for me, but for the people looking to start right now. These jobs won't pay crap until an entry level or apprentice starts gaining experience. If he stays with the same company, they will never pay him what he's worth because they figure... If he worked for 9/hr when he was 18, he should be happy to work for 13/hr at 24! Sure, they may not be as productive, but they still gotta eat! They complain that young people aren't willing to put in the effort to learn and work hard... Well I would ask, why should they if wages are so low? If I had to start from the bottom in my trade today, I'd be running for the door!

It used to be that an aspiring tradesman would get paid more than he produces because he is viewed as an investment. Businesses now have no desire to invest in young talent, they feel there should be people lining up to take these jobs at crap pay. Of course, there are... Lines of illegals. That's why there is no actual shortage of willing and aspiring tradesmen in this country, but if the border was closed and they we're sent back? This country would fall apart at the seems and productivity would screech to a halt.

The unions that represent these trades have really lost a lot of power of the years as well. Sure, a journeymen electrician can make +30/hr with the union... But an illegal will do it for more than half the price. This has effected so many trades from electricians/plumbers/welders/machinists/HVAC.... The list goes on. There is NOTHING the unions can do to stop this, because it's up to the consumer to decide, and money speaks louder than ever. To hell with quality anymore, it just isn't worth it apparently. The public really doesn't have a high opinion of trade unions either. they've been trained to turn on their protectors. The antics of the UAW painted a very bad image over the past few decades, but not every union behaved this way.

Also consider how one learns a trade. It used to be that you would work during the day and study your trade in the classroom at night. Well, to give you an example, most of the programs for my trade have been closed down. The bosses have no interest in paying for a learning tradesman's education, that should be on him. Most learning is done on the job now, and there are many that never really learn much because they are put on one job for years. We have a lot of subpar younger tradesmen because nobody bothered to train them the way they did 40 years ago. For the boss, that works great. From what I have seen in my trade, they will pay a few well rounded machinists very well, and have them babysit all the subpar ones, who are paid crap. Once in awhile, a prodigy will emerge, and they will train him up, but there is a lot of tricks and skills not getting passed down like before.

Anyways, you would probably be much better off getting into a trade in Australia. They have much stronger unions, more opportunity to training, and it would seem as though tradesmen are treated better there. About a year ago, I was very close to moving there myself, and the pay is better there for the work I do. Problem is though, everything is more expensive there, so I can still do pretty good here. Good luck.
I was looking into an A&P program to fix the family plane and my new plane I want when I eventually get one, the classes look great but to do them one class at a time will take like 5 years, so if you were an aspiring A&P to do it for a living you could not do it one class at a time ...... you would have to take loans unless you lived at home and worked a 5$/hr job until you had enough to pay for the program without debt. And even if you did complete the course you would be low balled for a job upon graduation .... and glad you did not take loans. I know one A&P that had to go back into the military because he could not find a job.

All this stuff we talk about on these forums involves living at home, if you dont live rent and bill free then your sunk before you even start. The gap between entry level pay and the cost of living is staggering in most places, if your lucky your basic bills will run you 80% of your take home, that does not leave much fun money and in many cases you will run a deficit just to live or have to live with 3 peope in a 2 bed room .... hmm isent that what people in the 3rd world do. I guess at least we still have running water and power ..... for now.
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