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What’s my opinion of the trades, for every sixth retiring trades people 2 are replacing them that’s how proficient and efficient trades have gotten.
they have a endless pool of youth to pick out of is….
Not everyone are going to be tradespeople….
Actually most are jobs that are growing in America are in services, hospitality, retail. They are poorly paid in an era of knowledge.
how about lifting minimum wage?
And let me tell you there is an underlying problem of to many men getting hurt in the trades and just disappear with no one asking where or when or what happen, I know
Nigel Shenton 5% of the population make min wage, those are entry level jobs, if you are a grown adult making min wage, the problem is you.
Dwayne Ball, you’re suggesting I should reset to minimum wage or entry-level apprentice pay for four years just to "earn" a livable wage? You’re essentially saying I should do the hardest physical labor for a quarter of the pay just to exist in a working environment.
I’ve put in 10 years in the trades. I’ve seen how it works. When I got a concussion, I was bounced around between journeyman and trade roles for a decade. The reality is that many employers prioritize the cheapest labor possible; they’ll drag out an apprenticeship indefinitely to keep wages down. I know people who have all their hours ready for school, yet they’re still being used as "apprentices" because it saves the company money.
The problem isn't the concept of an apprenticeship—it's the exploitation of low wages and the way employers hop from one person to the next to avoid paying what a job is actually worth.
Nigel Shenton We already have a shortage of trades people. Good ones you really want to employ are non existent. It's driving up wages for tradesmen.
It seen thought for the last year to two years. Anyone who is any good is employed and being huddled by thier companies.
That's a fact as I own a smaller electrical company. Proficiency doesn't mean work can be handled in a realistic construction timeline.
Mark Olsson, if your argument is simply "the good ones are already hired," I’m calling BS. I see the job postings, and I’m getting offers too, but you have to look at the broader economy.
The sectors actually seeing real growth aren't the high-paying trades; they are retail, hospitality, and service jobs—roles that remain poorly paid in a knowledge-based economy. We should be talking about raising the minimum wage instead of pretending everything is fine.
There’s also a darker side to the trades that people ignore: the number of men who get injured and simply disappear from the industry without a trace. No one asks where they went or what happened to them.
As for the "growth" you're claiming? The math doesn't track. For every six tradespeople retiring, only two are replacing them. That isn't a thriving, growing industry; that’s a shrinking workforce.
And let’s talk about the hiring process itself. If you don't fit a specific algorithm—like if you’ve had three jobs in seven years—you won’t even get an interview. It’s exactly what Cathy O’Neil describes in *Weapons of Math Destruction*. The system is rigged to filter people out, not to find "the best" talent.
The stats don't lie. Replacing six with two is a decline, not a boom. Anything else is just noise.
### Key Points Retained:
* **The 6-to-2 Ratio:** Highlights the net loss in the workforce rather than growth.
* **Economic Shift:** Points out that growth is happening in low-paid service sectors rather than specialized trades.
* **Algorithmic Bias:** References Cathy O’Neil to explain why the "everyone is hiring" narrative is a myth for many workers.
* **The Human Cost:** Addresses the lack of support or visibility for injured workers in physical trades.
Dwayne Ball, you’re suggesting I should reset to minimum wage or entry-level apprentice pay for four years just to "earn" a livable wage? You’re essentially saying I should do the hardest physical labor for a quarter of the pay just to exist in a working environment.
I’ve put in 10 years in the trades. I’ve seen how it works. When I got a concussion, I was bounced around between journeyman and trade roles for a decade. The reality is that many employers prioritize the cheapest labor possible; they’ll drag out an apprenticeship indefinitely to keep wages down. I know people who have all their hours ready for school, yet they’re still being used as "apprentices" because it saves the company money.
The problem isn't the concept of an apprenticeship—it's the exploitation of low wages and the way employers hop from one person to the next to avoid paying what a job is actually worth.
Dwayne Ball if you want to talk about the real problem, I made less than minimum wage today under $13 an hour building. Probably $5 million dollar houses.. and now those houses have seen 300% increase in profit while my earnings were just is... The crisis isn't if enough people are joining the trades. Let me guarantee you. There's enough people going into the trades and the problem isn't me
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Dwayne Ball
## The New Economic Divide
It’s interesting to look at the transition from **Baby Boomers** and **Generation Jones** to **Gen X** and beyond. There used to be this hallmark of "Republicanism" that suggested to be a true citizen, you had to either be an entrepreneur or a homeowner. If you didn’t own the house, you didn’t start the family. No house, no "nest"—just a wife, a dog, and the status of a "passive citizen."
But we need to talk about the reality of today’s economy. We are witnessing the largest transfer of wealth in history from those under 30 directly to the 1%. While Gen X and Boomers hold their half of the wealth tied up in home equity, the younger generations are watching their potential future evaporate.
**The most frustrating part?** It’s not just the voting patterns of the older generations; it’s the lack of political mobilization from the youth. There is this strange, unearned reverence for "the way things were" that keeps people from voting in their own interest.
We are looking at a decade where:
* **30-40% of the population** is handing their wealth upward to the 1%.
* **20% of white-collar jobs** are projected to disappear or drop to minimum wage or just above due to AI.
* The top 1% holds as much wealth as the bottom 50%.
I don’t blame individuals for working hard, but I do blame the systemic "bootlicking" of leadership that ignores these shifts. Voting against the interests of half the population isn’t a virtue—it’s a crisis. We need to stop waiting for a "nest" that the current system isn't designed to let us build. 🤢🤮
Dwayne Ball Based on the most recent **Alberta Minimum Wage Profile (2023)** and related labor data, a significant portion of Alberta's workforce falls within the $15 to $24 an hour range.
While the provincial government primarily tracks those at or below the minimum wage, here is a breakdown of the population in that bracket:
### **The $15 to $24 Breakdown**
* **At Minimum Wage ($15/hr):** As of 2023, approximately **126,000 Albertans** (about 6% of all employees) earn exactly the minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
* **The "$15.01 to $24" Bracket:** While specific "real-time" counts for the exact $24 ceiling are less frequently published in a single bucket, historical Statistics Canada trends and living wage reports indicate that roughly **20% to 25%** of Alberta's workforce (approximately **400,000 to 500,000 people**) earns between minimum wage and $25 per hour.
* **Total Estimate:** Combined, it is estimated that roughly **525,000 to 600,000** employed Albertans earn between $15 and $24 an hour.
### **Key Demographics in this Wage Bracket**
The profile of these workers shifted significantly over the last two years:
* **Age:** Contrary to popular belief, it isn't just students. About **57%** of those earning minimum wage are **25 years or older**.
* **Industry:** The majority of workers in this range are found in **Retail Trade** and **Accommodation and Food Services**.
* **Regional Context:** In areas like **Medicine Hat** or **Lethbridge**, the percentage of the population in this bracket tends to be slightly higher than in the high-salary hubs of Calgary or Fort McMurray, as local "living wages" in these cities are often calculated closer to the $18–$22 range.
### **Comparison to "Living Wages"**
In 2025, the **Alberta Living Wage Network** highlighted that for many, earning $15 to $24 is no longer considered a "living wage" in major centers:
* **Medicine Hat:** $18.15/hr
* **Lethbridge:** $22.30/hr
* **Calgary:** $26.50/hr
* **Edmonton:** $22.30/hr
This means a large portion of the population earning under $24/hr in Alberta’s major cities is technically earning below the calculated cost of living for those specific regions.
It's who you know as the pastor son that gets the job...
Or the dad's favorite friend son?
Laughing is just how entitled do trades people be in a 6 to 2 ratio be...
It's a meritocracy on family friends of family there rewarding intelligent not education
So
Yes laugh away
Find a new job, you are just allowing someone to take advantage of you. I wouldn't even set my alarm clock for that much money, but when entering the job market I made $4.50 hr and like people have since the beginning of time, I improved my education, skills and experience and added another 0 to that $4.50 hr. You are complaining about min wage but allowing a employer to pay you less than min wage, again that's on you.
Nigel Shenton Boomer? lol you don't even know your generations, I'm GenX, btw step one, don't rely on CPP at all, make your own nest egg.
Nigel Shenton this is decidedly false. In theory and reality. All you have to do is take a look around. “Skilled” tradespersons are in extremely high demand. And those “skilled” tradespersons have an extremely low percentage of getting hurt during the course of their career. The need for these tradespeople have been shunned for years, as people feel getting a degree is decidedly the better route to a prosperous career. This has also been deemed false. Ask me how I know…
Gregory Richard Witt dude, it may not be rational, but it's definitely reality if you're saying it's not going to be reality anymore that's rational. Believe me that's just noise or missed the mark On a bell curve
If you don't have the friends or the family that knows the journeyman and you just handed out resumes
Then once that friend's family son or the pastor son gets old enough and he decides. Hey today he's going to become a tradesperson
That's what really marks it as a noise or Miss the mark
I don't need to ask you how you know buddy
The 6:2 ratio speaks for itself
The trades can be desperate as they want but unless they're going to pay a livable wage or the actual wage for the job I just call BS
When I see it
Nigel Shenton
Because only Primary and Secondary economic sectors produce wealth.
You’re talking about Tertiary sector jobs.
They are parasitic industries to the overall economy.
Go ride your bike.
T.J. Starkes
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466958
Probably top read this decade in the top 20 out 1,000 books for people saying minimum wages jobs are parastatal or parasitical to the economy
What are they meaning
Mostly cause they say white collar work is
considered the same thing to this bunch of people saying the same things.
Nigel Shenton entry level jobs are worth the minimum wage they're paid nothing more if you want to be paid more work the entry-level job get the experience do a good job and get a different job that's how it works.
Shauna Boyle You’ve hit on something deep, Shauna. There is a strange economy today where people 'peddle words' and trade on a good attitude, almost like the way institutions have always tried to profiteer off the ideas of grace and morals. But real virtue isn’t a performance; it’s something found in the quiet, in doing good for someone without them ever knowing. Only after that do the boundaries come.
I’ve been thinking about how brief our history really is. We act like these systems are eternal, but the first Canadian cent was only minted in 1858, and the tradition of fiction as we know it didn't truly take root in Europe until the 1600s, and 1800s in North America. In the grand scheme, it’s all so recent.
We spend so much time on Facebook 'searching for lost time,' surrounded by ultracrepidarianism—people offering loud opinions on things they haven't truly studied. The more I see of it this year, the more I find peace in my books. It reminds me that there are two types of people: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data... and those who are still waiting for someone else to tell them what to think.
Take it from Dani on how often she abruptly hung up the phone and stuck with division or a fanatical in chaos to make her own luck as in like making choices and using ambiguity to make the exploit opportunity, erode boundaries into smaller choices., then nudge the own luck as in making the choices
If you're aiming for that "100 books a year" goal, David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs is definitely the one to start with for this specific topic. It bridges the gap between why a barista and a corporate lawyer might both be viewed as "victims" or "parasites" of the same broken system.
Enjoy your coffee ☕ this morning T.J Starkes
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