Speaker 1: Wind Down with Janet Kramer, an I'm Heeart radio podcast.
Speaker 2: I want to introduce you to On the Job and
Speaker 2: host Avery Thompson. Avery shares stories of people making changes
Speaker 2: in their professional and personal lives. Whether it's a successful
Speaker 2: athlete transitioning into a new career off the field, a
Speaker 2: fly fishing tour guide trying to introduce a new segment
Speaker 2: of folks to the joys of the outdoors, or a
Speaker 2: stadium beer and hot dog hawker who doubles as a
Speaker 2: CEO of a red hot startup. We'll find out what
Speaker 2: drives them and what lies ahead. These are heartfelt stories
Speaker 2: of people finding their lives. Work on the Job is
Speaker 2: brought to you by Express Employment Professionals. This week, Avery
Speaker 2: talks to a former carpenter who is now a fellow
Speaker 2: at Harvard.
Speaker 3: Welcome to On the Job. It's hard to believe it
Speaker 3: that this is now our eighth season. We've got a
Speaker 3: lot of great stories coming your way. If you're not
Speaker 3: sure how to feel about the economy these days, you're
Speaker 3: not alone. It's an admittedly confusing time right now to
Speaker 3: make sense of what's going on out there. I gave
Speaker 3: a call up to Boston, Massachusetts to speak with author,
Speaker 3: labor historian, and fellow at Harvard Law mark Erlin Mark Earley,
Speaker 3: thank you for being on the podcast. Let's jump right
Speaker 3: into it. How's it looking out there to you?
Speaker 1: Well, I actually think it's looking quite good. You know,
Speaker 1: there's the issue of perception and reality and how it's
Speaker 1: perceived politically. But the reality is that the job market
Speaker 1: keeps climbing, that we have come out of the pandemic
Speaker 1: better than really any other country in the world, and
Speaker 1: I think there are a lot of opportunities. I would
Speaker 1: say that to the degree that what our future holds
Speaker 1: in some ways is dependent on the election in November
Speaker 1: and whether the current trends continue or whether there's a
Speaker 1: sharp turn to a different set of politics and economics.
Speaker 3: As Mark told me, there's only so much crystal ballgazing
Speaker 3: one can do. As a historian. He knows that unforeseen
Speaker 3: surprises are both unpredictable and inevitable. However, there is one
Speaker 3: thing that we can all see coming our way, and
Speaker 3: that's AI.
Speaker 1: I think for the majority of jobs, I don't think
Speaker 1: in the short term is going to be much of
Speaker 1: an impact one way or another. I think twenty five, thirty,
Speaker 1: fifty years out. The impact of AI is probably going
Speaker 1: to be incomprehensible in many ways.
Speaker 3: And at least for now, it seems unlikely that AI
Speaker 3: will be able to replace a plumber or an electrician
Speaker 3: anytime soon, which is a great thing because those types
Speaker 3: of jobs, the sort of skilled trade jobs, are having
Speaker 3: quite a resurgence these days. And Mark, a former carpenter himself, says,
Speaker 3: not only are those jobs quite plentiful these days, they're
Speaker 3: also finally getting the respect they deserve.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's been an interesting process. I think
Speaker 1: that's for two reasons. One is that guidance counselors and
Speaker 1: high schools and sort of families works kept saying college, college, college, college.
Speaker 1: You got to go to college if you're going to
Speaker 1: have a secure living, And what happened when you graduated
Speaker 1: you had a pile of student debt and you were
Speaker 1: a barista or an uber driver. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: if you do blue collar work, if you frankly, if
Speaker 1: you go say through an apprenticeship program, you are earning
Speaker 1: while you learn. There is no debt. You're learning a skill.
Speaker 1: In four years and you've become a licensed electrician or
Speaker 1: you become a master carpenter, or whatever, and the occupation
Speaker 1: may be, and you have been you've been making money
Speaker 1: that entire time, and you're well on your way towards,
Speaker 1: you know, having a secure livelihood. I think for too
Speaker 1: long we devalue that kind of work in the society.
Speaker 1: And I'm glad to see, like the enrollment of vocationals
Speaker 1: schools is increasing all over the country, and that seems
Speaker 1: to me kind of like one hundred and eighty degree
Speaker 1: shift from say even twenty years ago.
Speaker 3: With soaring enrollment in technical and vocational schools and a
Speaker 3: strong jobs market in the blue collar sector. Some have
Speaker 3: even started calling gen Z the tool belt generation. And
Speaker 3: as public opinion of the trades continues to change, so
Speaker 3: too are the people drawn to them.
Speaker 1: You're seeing women in the trades being elevated to leadership
Speaker 1: positions in the industry. It's a very healthy thing, very
Speaker 1: good thing.
Speaker 3: And a similar trend is happening with foreign born Americans.
Speaker 1: My parents are immigrants. I'm a big support of immigration.
Speaker 1: I think this country was built on immigrant labor. And
Speaker 1: the only difference now is that instead of being folks
Speaker 1: from Southern Europe or Eastern Europe or wherever, they're coming from,
Speaker 1: Central and South America as well as other parts of
Speaker 1: the world.
Speaker 3: Hopefully, in a few years we'll have a lot more
Speaker 3: men and women driving their children around and pointing and saying,
Speaker 3: you see that, kids, I built that for On the job,
Speaker 3: I'm Avery Thompson.
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