Not to mention that before this there was a huge shortage of skilled construction workers in America which has had upward pressure on housing prices.
What if those people cycle out of BBB jobs in a few years and into residential construction?
What if those people cycle out of BBB jobs in a few years and into residential construction?
Not to mention most construction people ideally don't stay in construction.
It's really hard and sorta inhumane to do this when you are 50+ with problems all over your body. For many, unemployment and alcohol abuse looks like a better alternative.
America doesn't want to talk or hear about this, as everybody want to buy their beautiful huge homes on a suburb, no matter how this is costly in the health and life of others
My painter in West Wyoming is in this age bracket. He is currently on a ski trip in Hokkaido. He makes good money and is in great health, certainly compared to most office workers I know.
That’s my point. These aren’t traditionally high-paying jobs. The fact that they are right now says something.
This was historically true for construction [1]. Yet their wages are on a smooth curve upwards [2]. The entire cohort of construction workers is currently seeing high real wages, and their data almost completely hide Covid.
I’d also argue that commodity and skilled painting are different. The 50-year old commodity painter who honed his craft can charge a premium because he can smooth my drywall and put on a finish someone with zero training cannot.
[1] https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/the-public-cost-of-low-wage...
I'll say that I've worked along side my cousin's baby-daddy (I think in future I'll just call him "T" as that's less unwieldy), and he's a fine painter, but ultimately there just isn't that much to the job. I remember the first time I used a paint sprayer on a new construction job myself; basically you just need to learn where the trigger is and in a minute you can paint a wall that would take an hour with a roller.
It’s looking at 2015 to 2019 data. I’m comparing that period to the post-2021 one.
> is 2 in real dollars?
No, nominal. They’re up in real terms, but I don’t have non-proprietary data for that.
You don't build roads, bridges and houses only with painters.
Also, you are/were a investment banker. You aren't hiring the average American painter.
It's like hiring Picasso to paint your family and saying that he can do his job in his 60s and travel the world with the money.
This is literally true for any 50+ in construction. My point is someone with that seniority can pick their jobs, pick their clients and not necessarily be doing the back-breaking work.