I’m a construction worker/builder between jobs right now, and I haven’t felt like I am capable of making any kind of decision what direction to go in life for the past 2 months. I am curios is anyone has thoughts on switching industries/jobs based on the Trump trade war/annexation. My only idea right now is joining the army, or the ildu or something.
I work in corrections. Doubt we’ll see a drop in crime any time soon.
I wish I could find something. I’m in IT out in Alberta, and there’s only one market; big oil. If I could leave, I would, but my wife is a teacher and that’s not a career that migrates easily. I’m no fan of the UCP mismanagement and shutting down any opportunity for diversifying our economy, but we just can’t seem to overcome the rural conservative base. It’s like being tied to a rock and watching an avalanche coming straight for you.
I’m a shipyard welder in the US and I would love love love to move to Canada right now. With Canada shifting trade away from the US and towards other countries, the need for trade ship building and maintenance will skyrocket. Ships are always in need of repairs, and being a welder means a guarenteed job.
Thanks for sharing. That makes a lot of sense. I have experience as a hobby welder. Maybe I should go get a cert or something 🤔
It is definitely hard work, but it’s rewarding work. Some welders specialize in one specific thing with one specific process, but I believe this is a career mistake. A well-rounded welder should have some experience and training in every process.
There’s SMAW (often called stick), GMAW, TIG, flux core, brazing, plasma cutting, oxy/acetalyne cutting & welding, carbon arc’ing, etc.
My shipyard job almost exclusively does stick welding. Occasionally we’ll do TIG, but I can count on one hand how many times I’ve TIG welded last year.
The shipyard trained me, but I had to go on my free time and money to learn the other processes. I think it was worth it, IMO. I’m not great at the other processes, but I can do them well enough to pass workmanship inspections.
Plus if I ever lose my job (in the US it’s looking more and more likely), I still have a robust skillset to find another job. It’s a good trade to have, it’s extremely difficult for a company to hire someone overseas to do it. In a sane world, the job security from welding is great.
Do you think it’s too late for someone like me in my 40s to start learning the skills to land a job in your field? I don’t need the job, but it would be cool ass skill to have and maybe have as a back up job option.
Lost my job right after the election because of the results because my former employer dealt in overseas markets. Our major customers all stopped putting in orders in a bid to wait and see meaning my employer had to cut jobs, lucky me. That company is limping along right now even after the cuts.
New job is less susceptible to those shocks as the big customers are all domestic and there’s always a need for their products. I just looked for jobs in my sector that didn’t depend on overseas markets to stay in business.
That probably doesn’t apply to construction trades though as a whole lot of the materials seem to be imported. Military might not be a bad play, just maybe aim for something not front line grunt and pick up some transferable skills for after exiting
Do you mind me asking what industry you are in?
White collar desk-jockey job in manufacturing
Yeah I work for a company that does a lot of cross border stuff in N America. About 30% of the business is going across the border and that’s gonna get ugly real fast.
Even if we don’t lose 30%, only 10% of that would lead to major reshuffles and a lot of layoffs.
In your opinion, is your company going across due to the tariffs specifically or other regulations? Or just because the market is bigger?
