Definitely something white-collar in any case. Nobody is working 80 hours a week for months on end as a roofer or brick-layer. Even fishermen only work 16 hour days for 2 week stretches which are physically punishing enough. The average human body just isn’t up to months of 80 hours/week of manual labor.
I got close being a framer from 2012-2016. 6 12s in construction was pretty fulfilling and I really liked working with my hands even if the pay was crap. Now I’m an office drone and it’s just okay doing a regular 40 for waaay more pay and benefits. I keep doing it because now I have the space to do and buy the stuff I want and not feel economic pressures like I used to.
Sometimes I miss the blue collar job, though. I’m glad I did it but I’m even more glad I made the career change.
Well that’s precisely my point. You can do it, for awhile, when you’re young, and maybe you even like it; but there is no world in which one can work 80 hour weeks in construction indefinitely without wrecking your body and playing serious hell with your home life.
Ask me how I know.
It’s not white collar. It’s powerplants. I do work in management, but the deal when I moved up was that I still got to work in the field 50% of the time. I get burned out sitting in my office. And I definitely did not start in management, but at the very bottom
And as far as the hours… there’s only so many people you can put on some jobs, so hiring others will just have them standing around
Also, I’d say 90% of the people that work with me love their jobs. I’ve seen quite a few of them turn down better pay because we’re pretty chill and honest about work and expectations. We keep good people around as long as possible.
