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re: Question for white collar baws

Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:05 pm to
Posted by Prodigal Son
Member since May 2023
1590 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:05 pm to
quote:

I thought this was a hypothetical question

Not at all. Less than 20% of Louisiana households (combined income) make over 100k/yr. Yet the blue/white collar divide is roughly 55/45 in favor of white collar. That tells me that there are a lot of people who may have gone the blue collar route if they were better informed (and the blue collar route was more esteemed than it is).
Posted by Prodigal Son
Member since May 2023
1590 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:08 pm to
You make 500k/yr? Doing what?
Posted by jfw3535
South of Bunkie
Member since Mar 2008
5403 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:10 pm to
quote:

make $100k/yr on a 40hr work week.

Double the salary and half the hours and maybe we can talk.
Posted by armsdealer
Member since Feb 2016
12268 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:10 pm to
I let someone know that I need something electrical done and then the call the electrician at work. That is as close as I want to be to an electrician at work. At home, I'll play electrician, plumber, carpenter etc. etc. but I know I am only doing this for myself and I don't have to do it any more if I don't want to.

To see 100k a year on a 40 hour work week for an electrician you would need to double the cost of everything else because inflation would be kicking our arse way more than it is now.
Posted by Prodigal Son
Member since May 2023
1590 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:10 pm to
Mingo- what do you do for a living? How much do you make per year? How common and (repeatable) would you say that is?
Posted by GetmorewithLes
UK Basketball Fan
Member since Jan 2011
22078 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:11 pm to
quote:

but no white collar dude is doing back to blue collar.


There are a few but most are burnouts and that is not necessarily bad if they still have there mind. Most burnouts are just products of tired of doing what they are doing in a bad work environment.
Posted by Prodigal Son
Member since May 2023
1590 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:11 pm to
quote:

Double the salary and half the hours and maybe we can talk.

So, you make $200k/yr in 20 hours a week? Doing what?
Posted by Narax
Member since Jan 2023
5512 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:12 pm to
quote:

What would it take for you to take a blue collar job? I’m not talking about digging ditches (solely- but let’s say it’s part of the job description). I mean electrician, plumber, HVAC, etc. I don’t expect doctors, lawyers and engineers to seriously consider this (but some might).


I think you could get a lot of Associates Degree Electrical Engineers to move into Electrician/HVAC.
quote:

The reason I ask, is because I’m tired of dealing with retards and drug addicts. I want to know what it would take to get more people of at least average intelligence to consider sweating it out with me vs sitting in an air conditioned office.

The jobs for non 4 year degrees are kinda iffy, and they are a pretty bright bunch.
A lot of them wind up in drafting, doing designs for big building HVAC systems anyway.
quote:

I will likely agree with most demands, as I believe that a good electrician should make $100k/yr on a 40hr work week. Insurance and 401k as well.

I think you could get a Fresh out of mid ranked 4 year state school grad for $80k, then up him to $100k in a few years.

But I think you'd be better off going for Associate Degree Electrical, you can get them cheaper and they will be much more loyal.
Still plenty sharp.

Top school grads start $140k+, but it's not worth chasing them anyway.
quote:

What do we need to do to make this dream a reality? The obvious answer is to cut the workforce and therefore increase demand by making the barrier to entry more difficult. I’ve been on many jobs (cost plus) where we would have 5 guys on a 2- man job, and 10 guys on a 5-man job, so forth and so on. So I know we can do more work with less people- and therefore charge and pay more per man hour. We just have to figure out what to do with the retards and drug addicts.

I think you are already there, I bet you could pick up a bunch of them at community colleges by just calling the department and making nice with them.

For engineering more years in college is more polishing.

The Gem is obvious after 2 years, but it may take some more polishing.
This post was edited on 10/1/25 at 7:20 pm
Posted by Prodigal Son
Member since May 2023
1590 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:16 pm to
quote:

For your situation, I think key is awareness and training. Recruiting the right people by showing strong earning potential this work offers, the benefits, and positive working conditions

Thanks for that. But the key is obviously money and benefits. What would you consider positive vs negative working conditions? Would you rather sweat and have callouses on your hands- or take orders from a complete moron DEI hire? Also, when was the last time you had a “nice sandwich?”
Posted by DCtiger1
Member since Jul 2009
10986 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:18 pm to
The type of person you’re looking for will have a lot more earning potential on the white collar side because they are self starters. The white collar baws you’d attract based on 100k are lazy fricks that are happy inside making less
Posted by Prodigal Son
Member since May 2023
1590 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:20 pm to
Narax- I freaking love you man. Your post is EXACTLY the kind of feedback I was looking for. Totally worth wading through the “look how much money I make” posts from people who probably don’t (or really just are the super bored top 2% of earners )
Posted by dirtsandwich
AL
Member since May 2016
6354 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:29 pm to
If I could make 2/3rds of my current income doing some type of physical work that was not particularly demanding and didn’t come with significant stress or involve dealing with true public, I’d strongly consider it. Maybe 50%. I have a stressful, demanding job but am well compensated.
Posted by Prodigal Son
Member since May 2023
1590 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:32 pm to
quote:

The type of person you’re looking for will have a lot more earning potential on the white collar side because they are self starters. The white collar baws you’d attract based on 100k are lazy fricks that are happy inside making less

I only disagree with the idea that that’s who I’m looking for. I’m not. I’m looking for ways to improve the trade to attract the best. I want less electricians, at much higher pay, because they can do the work of what we currently pay for two electricians.

Most people don’t see what’s happening to the trades. They think you can just keep putting retards and drug addicts in, and a few smart guys will figure out how to make it work. The brainpower is leaving. Whereas 30 years ago, electricians grew on trees- today , no one wants to take up that mantle. I want to help to fix that.
Posted by Prodigal Son
Member since May 2023
1590 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:35 pm to
quote:

If I could make 2/3rds of my current income

Which is how much?
Posted by Prodigal Son
Member since May 2023
1590 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:37 pm to
quote:

The type of person you’re looking for will have a lot more earning potential on the white collar side because they are self starters

Agreed. How do we fix that?
Posted by Narax
Member since Jan 2023
5512 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:44 pm to
quote:

Your post is EXACTLY the kind of feedback I was looking for.

I worked my way through school, 3 years in community and 3 years in state.

My dad was a no college blue collar guy so I get what you are saying.

The other group to not sleep on is ex-military guys.

If you look up the job codes and watch the ex-military job sites you can grab guys leaving the military who had that job code.

https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/mechanics-engineering/design-develop/12k-plumber
https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/mechanics-engineering/design-develop/12r-interior-electrician
https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/mechanics-engineering/test-repair/94s-patriot-system-repairer

If the dude can repair a patriot he's probably bright.
Posted by Bayou_Tiger_225
Third Earth
Member since Mar 2016
12391 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:48 pm to
quote:

But many would gladly sweat it out for the same compensation if it meant not having to deal with the typical corporate bs
I don’t know man… having a nice white collar gig is pretty sweet.

As long as you don’t let yourself become fat, your body is usually in pretty good condition when you get older. All the older blue collar guys I know have issues. Backs, knees, shoulder, etc
Posted by Prodigal Son
Member since May 2023
1590 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 7:55 pm to
quote:

My dad was a no college blue collar guy so I get what you are saying.

We are a dying breed. I don’t think most people realize where this is going. A large portion of my work is fixing what “imported” “electricians” are doing. Literally nothing in this country works without electricity.

I did a job fair at a high school recently. I would say less than 1% of interested parties possess the necessary intelligence. We’re on our way to a FAFO that will not be easily overcome. Think “Idiocracy” without electricity. The only way to fix problems in this country is to throw money at them. I’m raising my rates. Prepare thy anus.
Posted by Prodigal Son
Member since May 2023
1590 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 8:12 pm to
quote:

As long as you don’t let yourself become fat

Good luck with that. I’m in my mid-late 49’s and still have a six pack, 32” waist at 6’1” 190 without going to the gym. At all. My job is my gym.

quote:

All the older blue collar guys I know have issues. Backs, knees, shoulder, etc

I have 5 best friends. All are white collar. I’m by far the most fit. I do admit that I am an anomaly, but they are in worse shape than most blue collar baws I know of similar age. Really a non factor though, as I think it’s more about individual genetics and lifestyle than work. Eat less move around more.
Posted by Mid Iowa Tiger
Undisclosed Secure Location
Member since Feb 2008
23578 posts
Posted on 10/1/25 at 8:12 pm to
quote:

What do you do for 300-450k?


As little as possible. lol


I’m in investment banking and have a fairly rare set of skills. Definitely an outlier on most normative curves.

I also grew up farming, ranching, and very blue collar manual labor. We had an issue about a year ago where a semi was parked in the drive of our office building totally blocking our lane (that office is in an oddly rural setting).

Truck was running. I jumped in and backed down the lane about 70 yards to the wider spot so everyone could leave. I pulled it back to where it was and parked it like it never moved. Out Sr VP looked at me in amazement. I was like what? Didn’t everyone grow up being able to drive anything with an engine?

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