>Who considers 55-60k "high paying" especially when the job contains potential life threatening risks and other health issues.
These interviews are with apprentices! They're still in training and they're make $55k+ with benefits.
Depending on the trade, an apprenticeship usually lasts 3-5 years, with pay increasing along the way. By the end you'll be a journeyman, earning probably 50% more per hour. If you're a specialist or a leader (foreman), you'll get more pay on top of that. Call it an average 4 years, that's a six-figure advantage over someone who went to college, assuming they invest nothing and the college student pays in cash.
Being union and hourly also means they will get overtime when the crunch comes. And it will. An executive somewhere will always change their mind and decide they want Y instead of X.
>I wouldn't do much of that dangerous and exhausting work for double that pay range and I would still make less money than I do sitting at a desk now.
Industrial construction work in particular can be hard, but I wouldn't call it exhausting. You get less of a workout than you would in the gym—you need to be able to do it 40 hours a week, after all.
>I can put in <35 hrs a week, run errands during the day, work from home in my underwear, meet friends for long lunches.
Back when I was in an industrial trade, I could show up to work, do my job and that was it. I'd go home with a nice gloss of sweat on me, take a shower, and feel good. I took zero stress home with me. I looked damn good.
Most importantly to me, though, at the end of the job, when I was talking to someone or just reflecting on my own work, I could point to a hotel, an office tower, a bridge, a federal building, and so on, and say, "We built that. I built that." And I did. And it felt good.
These interviews are with apprentices! They're still in training and they're make $55k+ with benefits.
Depending on the trade, an apprenticeship usually lasts 3-5 years, with pay increasing along the way. By the end you'll be a journeyman, earning probably 50% more per hour. If you're a specialist or a leader (foreman), you'll get more pay on top of that. Call it an average 4 years, that's a six-figure advantage over someone who went to college, assuming they invest nothing and the college student pays in cash.
Being union and hourly also means they will get overtime when the crunch comes. And it will. An executive somewhere will always change their mind and decide they want Y instead of X.
>I wouldn't do much of that dangerous and exhausting work for double that pay range and I would still make less money than I do sitting at a desk now.
Industrial construction work in particular can be hard, but I wouldn't call it exhausting. You get less of a workout than you would in the gym—you need to be able to do it 40 hours a week, after all.
>I can put in <35 hrs a week, run errands during the day, work from home in my underwear, meet friends for long lunches.
Back when I was in an industrial trade, I could show up to work, do my job and that was it. I'd go home with a nice gloss of sweat on me, take a shower, and feel good. I took zero stress home with me. I looked damn good.
Most importantly to me, though, at the end of the job, when I was talking to someone or just reflecting on my own work, I could point to a hotel, an office tower, a bridge, a federal building, and so on, and say, "We built that. I built that." And I did. And it felt good.