
Ask HN: Niche high skill trades? - germinalphrase
Recently, a commenter on HN pointed out that high end watch making&#x2F;servicing is under increasing pressure to find and train novice watchmakers due to the retirement of Baby Boomers.<p>This turns out to be true and training to become a watchmaker appears to be fully subsidized by industry.<p>I find these kinds of niche, high skill jobs fascinating and would love to hear about others that are seeing a similar generational turn over.<p>There must be other niche opportunities to be exploited in this significant demographic shift.
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danielvf
The best surgeon’s knives and scalpel’s are still made with humans manually
doing a bit of the precision manufacturing. This is almost all older people,
and companies are delighted to get young blood in.

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germinalphrase
That's exactly what I'm talking about. I would completely assume this is an
automated task.

Edit: are there specific companies that live at the top of that niche?

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DoreenMichele
I don't know if this is still true, but I have heard for years that certain
key jobs in the fashion industry are held by a shrinking number of mostly
elderly immigrants with significant sewing and draping skills. Draping
apparently being the art of mocking up an initial design with just cloth on a
figure.

/handwavy vague memory and understanding (someone more knowledgeable than me
please chime in)

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cimmanom
Cobbling - aka custom shoemaking and shoe repair. Shoe repair still exists,
though almost every shop I've visited is staffed entirely with people over 50.
Shoemaking is almost a lost skill, though there are 2-3 places in NYC that
still do it (mostly custom high end work for rich people or sometimes stuff
for people with foot problems, paid for by medical insurers).

Stone carving. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine had so much trouble
finding carvers when they got funding to resume construction 15-20 years ago
that they instituted an apprenticeship program for underprivileged youth in
the neighborhood. I don't know how successful that was, but the program's
presumably been ended, since their funding ran dry again.

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hackermailman
There's a knife sharpening business here that seems to print money they have
so many restaurant/salon contracts.

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germinalphrase
Where's here?

