So what's gonna happen?

originally posted by: cmdrkeenkid
a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Congrats on getting a degree in something you're passionate about! A quick search on Indeed showed lots of forestry jobs in Florida, many in the private sector and lots were entry level. I'm sure other areas may have similar luck. If not, move to where the jobs are. Good luck!

As for the generational differences, you've lost me there. I don't get it either.

The only problem with Florida now is the housing market. The price for a home there has drastically increased, as with many other states. Utah is also crazy expensive now too.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

And this is happening worldwide to the youth op , I thought it was just me noticing it but way to many people are picking up the same vibe about the youth of today being stupid /fat/lazy ,and would you really trust them to knock down a tree next to your house .

There are young guys in Japan who think they are married to a doll or some screensaver /hologram on their phone ikyn the kids in the west are not far behind ,can they even service a chainsaw or sharpen it I wonder .

In the early 1980s 83-84 the weather where I live in Scotland was so bad all construction stopped with the cold it was minus 30+c for months a friend's father had a contract to fell trees and I got invited along I was 18 and did three weeks of forestry work not arboriculture ,first week was spent snedding the branches with a 24 ' jonswerd chainsaw with no brake guard lucky for me I am a left handed person because every time it bounced back up I was able to throw it over my shoulder if I had been using it right handed it would have taken my face or throat out but as they say if you don't have a scar you are not a forester but no scars on me from chainsaws but plenty from construction sites , it's not the easiest of work especially in the winter and I cannot see many of them lasting very long at that line of work .

There is a forestry collage near where I stay and one night many moons ago I got invited to a barbecue at the end of term by a friend of mine who was there what I noticed then was A / the amount of girls that were doing the course and rich kids just to pass the time maybe but I doubt any of them followed through and worked in that field even in my line of work after 3-4 years of training young guys were showing up with not a clue and were calling themselves tradesmen where my generation would have it knocked into them in months ,we are not talking about some stupid apprentice of 16-17 either that needs time and patience and shown how to do a job but lads of 19-20 with not a flamming clue ,when I said to one I had decades of experience he asked me what a decade was
Ikyn

The west is in for a BIG shock soon with the younger generations mentality, I am so glad I was born when I was and had the hard life I went through and have no kids

a reply to: Cancerwarrior
If it's any consolation, professionals say to get a degree- it doesn't matter in the least what it's in. Businesses look for people who have what it takes to stick it out and graduate, as they've already proven themselves to be trainable. Few people actually end up working in the field they got their degree in.
My grandson got his doctorate in psychics and Google recruited him with a $60,000.00 sign-on bonus, six figure salary and the promise of huge increases in pay on a regular basis.
Don't be afraid to apply to apply for any job, in any field that appeals to you. Large- and small- companies bowing to vaccine mandates will be the biggest problem in finding future employment anywhere.
Good luck to you!

a reply to: Backagain

Its not just Florida that prices of accommodation have sky rocketed it is worldwide and has been since 9-11. 2001 ,that's when it went crazy if you look back at the housing market .

Every body was singing and dancing thinking they were rich when the price of their homes went up X3 in little over a year back in the early 2000s but the only winners were the bankers at the end of the day , the average price for a. Home is near parity in the UK and the USA now times that by 4 or 5 and add on 25 years of property taxes etc etc and that is what a home costs now to own .

Thank jeebus I am not young now as that is totally unaffordable to most with a normal paying job

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: TonyS
It's not your age, it's reality and it explains the grotesque worker shortage.

Unemployment and labor force participation is at near records lows, everyone who wants a job has a job, that's why there is a shortage.

However, just like CPI and other metrics, tPTB have moved the goalposts and finessed the numbers for their benefit

Someone working multiple part-time jobs are counted 2/3X and (for CPI, reducing food & energy costs to roughly 13%, and minimizing housing costs via 'owners' equivalent rent')

I own land- and I get offers from "timber land management" companies at least weekly, looking to buy it up to use for tree growth.
So the good news is there are still plenty of non-government companies out there doing that kind of work.

As for what you're seeing.... anyone who works with the younger folks sees it. I've got a kid in my field with three years experience who thinks he should be paid as much as I am- with nearly 20 years in the field, and seven of them with the current company working my way to the top of my division.
The sad thing is, when he doesn't get a big raise next year, he's probably going to leave for another company and close that gap a little bit more without ever gaining the experience that comes with a long term job.

“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
The good times ended, I haven't seen any strong men born since the 80's ended. Now the working class is flooded with weak men, and it doesn't take a psychic to see what's coming down the road...

a reply to: stonerwilliam

when I said to one I had decades of experience he asked me what a decade was

We once had to take soil samples and compare the composition, ph and acidity in stands where pine growth is more accelerated. The instructor wanted us to dig down 3-4 feet to compare the different layers.

You should have seen these guys try and dig a damn hole with a shovel. I watched and chuckled to myself for a while before I could'nt take it any more and just grabbed the shovel and did it myself.

originally posted by: stonerwilliam
a reply to: Backagain

Its not just Florida that prices of accommodation have sky rocketed it is worldwide and has been since 9-11. 2001 ,that's when it went crazy if you look back at the housing market .

Every body was singing and dancing thinking they were rich when the price of their homes went up X3 in little over a year back in the early 2000s but the only winners were the bankers at the end of the day , the average price for a. Home is near parity in the UK and the USA now times that by 4 or 5 and add on 25 years of property taxes etc etc and that is what a home costs now to own .

Thank jeebus I am not young now as that is totally unaffordable to most with a normal paying job

I would like to agree with you, accept I can't. Don't you remember the housing crisis of 2007 and 8? You couldn't give your house away. The past 2 years housing cost has exponentially increased at a rate I don't recall ever seeing.

a reply to: lordcomac

I own land- and I get offers from "timber land management" companies at least weekly, looking to buy it up to use for tree growth.
So the good news is there are still plenty of non-government companies out there doing that kind of work.

I live in Kisatchie National Forest, which is Louisiana's only national Forest. Most people only think of swamps and bayous and alligators when you mention Louisiana, but just over half the state is woods and the timber industry is big where I live. So if it comes down to it I will get on with a logging crew somewhere local.

Most logging companies only make a 1-3 percent profit margin, some years they have a loss if there are alot of hurricanes. I was mainly going to go for a government job because of their preference for giving veterans jobs first, and the better benefits.

But I'm not taking the shot, I don't care if I have to go stock groceries at dollar general.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Social media and the internet is ruining these kids ,they think as another member pointed out they should be on rock star wages from day 1 when most of them are only fit to make the tea .

You only have to go online and look at how hard school exams were over the decades compared to now ,look at 1940s-1970s exams even I felt like a dummy looking at them ,and as you pointed out few of them can write a letter that is readable ,I may be dyslexic but I have a nice penmanship at least and if the youth have a problem they fold like a pack of cards and are unable to solve a simple problem through .

I have seen it first hand what video games are doing to the younger generation and that includes people in their early 30s all they think about or do is game even when they have children to look out for ,I know 2 people that fit into that bracket one has 2 children the other has 3 neither work and both game 24/7 , I would put a gun to my head and end it if I was in their shoes and no amount of coersing by me can get them out of that mindset .

Over in Asia it is a different story I have a friend who teaches there and those kids are on the ball ,polite , punctual and hard working ,the west is screamed IMHO

a reply to: Backagain

That dip in prices never happened on this side of the pond , maybe a 10 % dip then it got back to where it was before ,if you look back to 1600s the price of property only rose 1% a year come 2001 it went through the roof and is still climbing , the same property pre 2001 is now worth X10 now , a small plot of land maybe a quarter of a acre to build on is 200k in the sticks here and that is me being conservative

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Congrats. We all eventually become our parents!

a reply to: Backagain

Yeah, I only pulled Florida because that's where it defaulted to for my location. But at least you don't need the jab to work down here either.

Housing is terrible though, unless you go out of the cities. Okeechobee and Sebring aren't too bad, for example, really didn't change all too much in terms of dramatic rises.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Friend, I don't know you from Adam. You are facing an uncertain future as are we all. You suggested in your post that you may have made some questionable decisions when you were younger. I have no idea why at your age you are embarking on a new career, what you may or may not have been doing from when you were the age of the people you mention until now, only that now you believe to have a head on your shoulders that very possibly exceeds the one you sported when you were younger.

You state that the potential for jobs in the field you are seeking are limited with the majority of employment opportunities are with the government. Covid or the shot had nothing to do with this ratio as far as I can see. It was this way before covid and is the same now. The only thing that is important here is that jab. If you want a job, then take that jab. If you don't want the the jab, then you will have to seek a forestry job away from government or other corporations that will want you to have one too. It's that simple, I only offered my recomendation. I didn't intend to offend or cause a ruckus.

a reply to: ancientlight

You might have asked me if that is what I meant before jumping up and calling names like that.

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

I didn’t think you were being offensive.

I was stating that I have no crystal ball and the employment I had planned on getting had no kind of forced medical shots two years ago.

I can get different employment in the same field, people will be needing lumber and toilet paper no matter what happens with the economy or inflation. Forestry is actually quite a wide array of jobs, many of the logging companies around here are family owned smaller operations. My apologies if I didn’t specify that.

You’re right though. Kind of hard to predict anything for certain.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Good to hear you did not find that post offensive as it was not intended to be. Another member however did fin offense in it.

originally posted by: Gothmog
Naw .
Companies are too busy letting their veteran employees go in lieu of much cheaper , younger , employees who " just want to make things pretty" .
Usability be damned .
Quality be damned .

Those people would be on the E-6 report, they aren't. Sounds like more old person talk.

a reply to: Cancerwarrior

Yea! Ang get off my lawn!

originally posted by: Gothmog
The veterans are made to train the new employees .
The problem with that is , the veterans only have to tell their replacements what to do , not how to do it .

I laffed and laffed as I was retiring from my last position. They didn't hire anyone 'til I was already out the door. My boss says to me, "What do I need to tell the new guy so he can succeed in your position?" What a great guy he was.