re: What career path can a plant baw switch to?

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Of course they do. I work Maintenance at a major refinery and OPs and Maintenance all make virtually the same, around $200k w/ 700ish hrs of OT a year.

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So you’re saying instrument techs at your plant make ~$65 an hour straight time? That’s damn good money to sit around eating food from vendors waiting for OPs to call and say they need you to calibrate a meter..

Jambalaya chef.

Trades dawg

Many states begging for people to become an apprentice. Fo a trade.

When I was young, u had to have connections, now they begging, and I'm 2 old to be getting into ditches or attics

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What do operators do? Is this something that’s going to get wrecked by automation and AI one day?

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Operators monitor process conditions and intervene when needed to keep the plant running and prepare equipment for maintenance when it needs repairs. We have plenty of automation now. We still have the same size crew as we did when the unit was built in 1980. I could see some stuff changing more eventually but we already have an AI program that watches all the parameters of the plant and makes changes to optimize profits. We still have to make changes that the AI can’t see coming like weather conditions affecting process conditions and stuff like that.

Is it true that women have caused many baws to lose their plant jobs? Ole boy working nights on the weekend and his girlfriend/wife isn't responding to his text... Or answering his calls.. He has a good idea where she is at or thinks he knows where she is... Its gets the best of him. He just up and leaves to go ride by where he think she is. Goes back to work and is informed to get the frick out and don't come back...

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Is it true that women have caused many baws to lose their plant jobs? Ole boy working nights on the weekend and his girlfriend/wife isn't responding to his text... Or answering his calls.. He has a good idea where she is at or thinks he knows where she is... Its gets the best of him. He just up and leaves to go ride by where he think she is. Goes back to work and is informed to get the frick out and don't come back..

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I actually know of one guy this happened to. Almost the exact situation. His wife was sleeping with the neighbor. Quite a few times guys have told their wives they’re working nights on overtime but they are not there when they call the control.

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I was going to mention instrumentation or corrosion tech. Those skills are always in high demand but they are not making 150K.

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If an operator is making 150 the trades are making more. Supply and demand. Operators are on every corner. Instrument guys have some school behind them.

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My plumber charges $80/hr

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I don’t even have a damn plumber. Try watching some YouTube videos and grabbing a wrench.

Might want to look internally at what positions offer straight day work. Maintenance, instrument people, planner/schedulers, safety techs, parts room - to name a few. You know you company and plant that would be a leg up on outside people.

I actually went from operator to maintenance so I could work days at one point in my career

Garbage picker upper since ya seem to like baw so much..