Industry must battle educators' attitudes

HARRY PARKER
DIRECTOR OF TRAINING AND SAFETY
DUAL TEMP CO.

ALLENTOWN, PA. — Great column by Mark Eatherton in the March issue of CONTRACTOR (" What to do about pending labor shortages, part 3," pg. 52)! We here at Dual Temp have been fighting the same issues he speaks about. I am glad to see there is someone else who is frustrated by the public school counselors and their litany, "If you don't go to college, you won't get a good-paying job."

Recently I did a dog-and-pony show for a local group of high school seniors, and one of the teachers insisted that I discuss the fact that they are very likely to get laid off each year due to construction workers not being able to work in the winter months. I informed the class that layoffs can happen in any trade and with the current construction situation here in the Lehigh Valley, layoffs are few and far between. We primarily only use layoffs to let go of the deadwood (but I didn't say that to the class).

She obviously has the go-to-collegeor-fail attitude. I also like to bring up the hidden value of working in the trades, which is when it comes to the honey-do lists that we all have. Working in the trades gives us the knowledge to not have to hire a contractor to work on our homes, and those skills that we don't possess we can barter with those who do to keep our homes in top shape for a fraction of the cost.

Keep up the fight, Mark!