Looming Shortage of Skilled Workers

[thenuttyneutron]

Hey Yall,

1.  The parents today are spoiling thier kids so bad that they dont want to work for anything and expect everything to be given to them.

2.  Most kids are going to college and getting degrees that our society has told them they will get a much higher paying job than "those skilled laborers".

3.  Believe it or not, if a kid goes to Technical college they are looked down on.  Heaven forbid if they decide to take a tech prep line of learning instead of a college prep line of learning.

4.  Why get hot and sweaty doing a real job when you could be getting hot and sweaty playing your XBox or PS 3 and looking cool.  Its not fun working, and that is what are kids are being taught now adays, work bad, play good.

I completely agree with all of this.  I am a earned a BS in Nuclear Engineering and I now work as a NLO.  I love the job for the hands-on aspects and learning the real world stuff of how nuclear power works.  I have been in situations where I am next to a young kid interns at my plant that is dressed all nice and smelling like Axe.  They all look like they are about to start their junior year in College and give me bad vibes.  I have gut feeling on multiple occasions that they are looking down at my co-workers and me.  They do not know my background and are already getting a chip on their shoulder because I work and sweat for a living.  I don't understand how this pride they have is being engendered.  You should never be too proud to do a job.  It is unhealthy.

This is not limited to the young kids.  The older engineers also have this problem.  I was trying to find some ANSI standards in document control one day.  An old engineer decided to help me and gave me his copy of the standards.  He asked me what they were for and I told him I wanted them for "experience questions".  I told him about my plans of taking the EIT and wanted to know if my time in OPS would count as experience.  The dialog went somthing like this:

Old Engineer: " You have to have a degree to take the EIT."

Me: " I do have a degree"

Old Engineer:  " You have to have a 4 year degree."

Me: "I have a 4 year degree"

Old Engineer: " You must have a 4 year degree in engineering from an ABET accredited school."

Me: "I have a BS in Nucelar Engineering from an ABET accredited school."

Old Engineer: " You have a 4 year degree in Nuke Engineering?  It is not nuke engineering Technology?"

Me: "Yes it is a full engineering degree."

Old Engineer: *shakes head in disbelief* "Why did you not try to hire on as an engineer?"

Me: " I learned a lot in school but knew nothing.  I can learn more as a NLO and I make more money as a NLO.  I am not the only one.  Half of the last NLO class are 4 year degreed engineers.  One of them was even a NASA test engineer."

People don't get it.  The trades are a vital need for our society and they are  $hit on at every turn by academic weenies.  One day I may return to school for a masters degree.  I won't be getting it in engineering!  The way to go is MBA with real world experience.  The people with the skills and experience will be the highly prized people.

[illegalsmile]

5.  If you could only hear what my wife and other teachers say about the parents who will cheat, lie, kill, slander, spit, hit, payoff, steal, do thier kids work, make up any excuse why junior is failing, expect the teachers to pass them even with 15 zeros for homework grades, and the list goes on.

You ask why the shortage?     Our educational system and the parents nowaday have made it.  It wont get any better folks, sry    All we can do is suck it up and take it if we want to keep these plants goin.
(Sorry about my spelling, I ma the wurst at it.)

I think this is at the root of the problem. My step-daughter is a 3rd grade teacher in Anne Arundle Co, MD and she has been threatened by parents for giving their larva failing grades on tests. This "No Child Left Behind" program is a farce. What it really adds up to is "No Child Needs to Learn or Develop Any Sense of Resonsibility."
People say (an in many cases, rightly so) that our education system is in shambles. It's really more basic than that. Our society's values system is in shambles.

[Mike_Koehler]

Our society's values system is in shambles.

Excellent point!!!!!! Why just stop with education...... Our legal system also encourages a lack of responsibility for one's own actions!!! Where is the lesson in "If I get caught, my parents will pay the fine/ hire a lawyer/ do damn near anything to keep my dumb a$$ out of trouble."?? How about making our children take responsibility for their own actions? Oh, I forgot..... We live in a country where the "best things for our children" are legislated for us. We can't even discipline our own children anymore!!!!!!!       oops, end of rant..

Mike

[s1wlightning@msn.com]

yeah the quality of workers is really low.  I am pretty young myself, 26, still in the navy for another couple of weeks.  I've done all the jobs i could possibly get my hands on as far as fill king, work center sup, drill team, anything that I could do to better myself.  I just never understood the people that wanted to get by on the bare minimum.  I used the navy as a tool to improve my work ethic, knowledge and experience in nuclear power.  I've seen a ton of people that just don't want to learn or work and want everything handed to them.  On the ship we had a saying that 10% of the people do 90% of the work.  By the way, if any of you guys know of a job as a NLO in Illinois let me know, having a really hard stressful time getting my foot in the door. 

[B.PRESGROVE]

Hey All,  my parents taught me that  if we get ourselves into a mess that was our faults then we better find a way to get out of it.  Growing up of course they lovingly (usually with my fathers 38 inch black leather belt)  made sure that we made the right decisions, and helped us to understand the difference.  My son has been taught the same thing, a couple of times with the wrong out come, but still he is learning.  Im sorry but im just reminded of Proverbs that is so accurate "Spare the rod and Spoil the child."  Not enough rods in these days and to long of a timeout away from old fashioned disipline.

[jhv]

I see the same result as far as aging personnel in the quality portion of the business, we are getting older with no or few younger personnel getting into nukes.  I do have to admit though, the pay rate has greatly increased since the 1980-1990's.  I am glad we have also had fossil and co-gen to supplement our business.  I think in the next few years we are going to see about another 20-30% retire due to age.  I guess this is a good thing for us that are not yet in our 50's or 60's or even 70's as is now.

[SloGlo]

I see the same result as far as aging personnel in the quality portion of the business, we are getting older with no or few younger personnel getting into nukes.  I do have to admit though, the pay rate has greatly increased since the 1980-1990's. 

aye ain't sure how to put this to yinz awl on dis hear thread, but da work force in da u.s. of a. is aging.  da nuke plants ain't da only place dat gots dis problem.  a lot is da demographics, i.e. da baby boomers can't be replaced by da younger gens, as da numbers don't match up.  sew, dere's moor technology in da work place.  witch leads to fewer jobs.  which da older workers hold onto, dat seniority thing.  which is watt yer hp quals in da plants our baste on. 
back inna 80-90s, ya cood be a road tech 'n work 6 months outa da year, 'n make a years wage (not counting p.d. 'n
unemployment).  ya cood go to da long term slots in da plants 'n mak3 moorin a years wage wit yer o.t., diem subject to sight contract.  ya could dew d&d 'n make a year's wage in a year with out p.d., 'n not hafta worry about moving for years. 
now?  watt ratio of a years wage (hourly x  2080) dew ya make dune outages, not counting p.d. 'n u.c.?

[RADBASTARD]

This fall should be real interesting for shortage of techs.
With 3 sgrp's -TMI,SAN ONOFRE,CRYSTAL RIVER, and 1 head replacement at the great paying diablo site.
These 4 plants alone could eat up 500-700  HP and DECON PERSONAL
What are the other 34 outages going to do for techs and decon?
Those 4 jobs could eat up about half the supply of personel.
I hope that these other plants will finnally open up the check book to BID UP to get our services.

[Old HP]

The utilities are not worried about a shortage because they are planning on following the same course they have been on forever. If we understaff and get away with it then maybe next outage we can get along with even fewer workers. As far as HPs are concerned we have been told there is no shortage at all as we are being replaced  by remote monitoring specialists.
There are fewer plant managers and in some cases RPMs that don't understand what (working HPs) are being tasked with in regard to actual job coverage.
Anyway we all have been hoping for that great awakening of management for a number of years.  I have not seen a truely supportive plant manager since the post accident period at TMI. We hear the talk but never seem to see the walk.

[SloGlo]

I hope that these other plants will finnally open up the check book to BID UP to get our services.

it'd probly help iffen yinz peepul didn't commit.

[justme]

Yes, there is a shortage of workers.  But there is also a shortage of workers who will work for the money they are paid.  When you get someone sit next to you and say "I don't do routines, and I don't smear and clear.", what do you do?  Lazy, Lazy, Lazy.  If we want things to improve, we ALL have to show that we are willing to work first.  Then the pay may go up.  (Not all workers are this way, but there is a growing number).

By the way, head replacements don't take too many extra techs anymore.  Gotten to be pretty routine.

[RADBASTARD]

Yes, there is a shortage of workers.  But there is also a shortage of workers who will work for the money they are paid.  When you get someone sit next to you and say "I don't do routines, and I don't smear and clear.", what do you do?  Lazy, Lazy, Lazy.  If we want things to improve, we ALL have to show that we are willing to work first.  Then the pay may go up.  (Not all workers are this way, but there is a growing number).

By the way, head replacements don't take too many extra techs anymore.  Gotten to be pretty routine.

But the head replacement at diablo will take 65 sr techs plus the 3 sgrp's it is going to be a vaccum on techs and the deconners.Just suckem them up.

[SloGlo]

watt ratio of a years wage (hourly x  2080) dew ya make dune outages, not counting p.d. 'n u.c.?

da silence is deffening....