I get what you’re saying, and it’s pretty much how I view my job. It’s not a healthy view though.

We’ve seen a real boom-bust over here, on the other side of the pond from you. Part of it has been tied to oil, at least in my neck of the woods.

Yes, plenty of right wingers here too in the trades, but that’s par for the course in my province. Not necessarily toxic work environments like they used to be, or what you are describing, but still rough and tumble

Man, I’ve heard the job market is rough, but I didn’t know it was this dour.

I think what will ultimately happen is that we will see an uptick in people being employed in trades, as these are traditionally male roles, well paying^* and AI proof.

With an influx of workers going after skilled labour, the companies may initially cut wages - why pay you a good wage when someone hungrier will take a shittier one - but most trades have unions and if the unions get bigger as a result of the influx of skilled people looking for work, then the wages will come back up through union action.

It’s kind of an economics lesson in a way, and I’m vastly oversimplify the nuances that are interlinked in this cycle I’m describing, but that’s what I expect will likely happen over the next decade or two.

All of this comes at a good time, as trades were big in the 80s, and all those tradesmen are retiring. There was (in the 2010s) a big shortage of people wanting to do tradeswork and now the thing is kind of coming full circle

*= They are not so well paying right now.

We work hard, we play hard, Homer.