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’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.
I would love to see Canada rebuild their ship building industry and expand Atlantic and Pacific fleet as well as create some world class Arctic icebreakers.
Skilled hands would be welcome, let’s hope it happens.
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.
Curious, why doesn’t teaching migrate easily? Doesn’t every place on earth have children, who are hitting the same development milestones at the same time and need to be taught a similar level of things?
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?
I believe they meant that 30% of their product goes across the border, not that 30% of the company was splitting off and moving country.
Correct. I’m in logistics and we do rail road and maritime, and 30% of our money is moving stuff across the border.
If it’s going to US clients them there is no choice but if it’s going to other places then it’s often easier to ship it to hubs like Chicago or NYC, Baltimore, etc, and then out. Whole network is basically shot and now our clients feel the pain and stop ordering anything.
I work in corrections. Doubt we’ll see a drop in crime any time soon.
I left IT to open a small amusements company (link) a few years ago. So far we’ve been doing well and just doubled our floor space. Arcades, amusements, movies, etc, usually do well enough in recessions because they are cheap forms of entertainment. A family can’t afford a huge trip over the holidays, but they’ll stay home and see movies and other things.
The one thing that will change is what we have in our candy story. We JUST brought in a bunch of US candies. I’m not pulling them off the shelf but once they sell, I won’t be replacing them. We’re going to look for more UK and Japan candies which have always done well.
