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Sink leaking? Hole in the wall? If you’ve had any need for general or specialized repairs at your home recently, when you called for help, you may have been surprised to find out that you were put on a waiting list. That’s because we’ve got a shortage of tradespeople.
This has been reported on by Forbes Magazine, “In 2019, Blue-Collar Workers Disappearing And In Hot Demand” in December 2018; the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), “The Blue-Collar Drought” in February 2019; and Industry Week’s “Blue-Collar Workers are Now Scarcer than White-Collar Workers” from December 2018; to name a just a few.
The Industry Week article states “… the fact the Baby Boom generation, a segment of the workforce that once held many blue-collar jobs, continues to retire in droves. … And while the pool of blue-collar workers has shrunk, the demand for their services has continuously grown since the 2008 financial crisis.”
We’re no stranger to that here in the tri-county area; our local tradesmen are retiring faster than new ones are coming on board. Todd Spradlin of High Priority Plumbing in Colville told me that when he first opened up shop 20 or so years ago, he counted and had about 24 competitors. Now there are about four total, and he plans on retiring soon. Another plumber, Don Disque of Plumbtech in Kettle Falls, is also looking to retire. Anyone can do that…
