Are the skilled men disappearing?
Posted by terrycan 7 years, 10 months ago to Philosophy
I have noticed a trend where I work. We have a lot of expensive and complex machinery. Much of it does not work correctly. I try to have maintenance repair it. They tell me no one knows how any more.
My question for you is. Is this happening around you too? Are the skilled workers retiring out. The application of software is great however are people that build things a dieing breed?
My question for you is. Is this happening around you too? Are the skilled workers retiring out. The application of software is great however are people that build things a dieing breed?
I display my Rail / Dollar Sign bookends proudly!
To answer from Minnesota; the most qualified repair tech in the entire MSP/StPaul area is 72 years old. Donny can repair board level electronics through scraping 100 year old machine ways....he's the last. Everyone seems to be "specializing", and not very well in these areas. I only know of 4 youngsters, respective to my early fifties, that are broad-based competent manual machinist / manufacturers / mechanics...and I trained two of them. I've been here since 91' and at a point where I'm ready to close up for lack of those who are willing to pay for my services versus what I would have to pay to get competent help. I only run manual machine tools......such is life.
northbendcnc.com
What these people neglect to consider is that there is a great deal of infrastructure that needs to be maintained for their radios to work. Also, many of the new guys, in the field, can't tell the difference between interference, distortion and other vagaries with radio communication. Entire agencies, like the Washington State Patrol, were taken totally by surprise when they switched their entire system to digital, only to find that digital has a lot of trouble in mountainous terrain. If only they had asked one of us old guys, first...
I am having difficulty finding a good die maker. It would seem that people are uninterested in actually making things anymore. When I first started my company, I routinely received resumes and applications. In the last ten years I have had to search for people. Are too many people satisfied with the subsistence living handouts? Why not aspire to a good upper middle class living? Why has vocational training been diminished, while we encourage a glut of college educated, indebted citizens without enough job prospects for those educations when skilled trade jobs go unfilled? I find many college educated young people unwilling to take on jobs they see as beneath their education because it requires them to work with their hands as well as their minds.
Regards,
O.A.
Without young hobbyists and entrepreneurs bothering to run small shops that do one-off work, there is no possibility for other young people to get their hands on equipment that is not somehow controlled by a computer.
On the other hand, it certainly is fun to watch the many videos in which someone programs a CNC machine incorrectly and wipes out work and tool. Although many of the errors seem to result from having secured the work incorrectly.
Do schools not teach machine shop because of (1) perceived risk of injury, (2) high cost of owning machines, (3) lack of teachers willing and able to teach the stuff?
I have a lot of obsolete machinery on my floor in addition to all the newer CNC equipment. I will not give it up. It is still useful to me and it is impervious to EMPs too. I suspect many schools have stopped teaching shop for the reasons you have cited, but there may also be another component to it. Our government sponsored schools curriculum is no doubt a reflection of our past government ideologies which have been hostile to industry. This is really a problem since I believe it has aided in the outsourcing and decline of middle class jobs.
Respectfully,
O.A.
The first shop I worked was bought by the foreman. Don't know all the details. Believe he received 10% per year of the company for five years. At 50% the original owner retired and sailed around the world.
This company contacted the original company explained what they found and suggested strongly that they pay for the repairs etc. They did.
Anyway, the day of the craftsman is almost over. There used to be pride in doing a job well and seeinf it through to completion. Not anymore, at least not in my area.
However, it's likely that fewer people entering the workforce are choosing maintenance and repair of complex equipment as a career. Especially since such equipment quickly becomes obsolete as new technology replaces it.
Repairing 3D printers is really hot right now.