Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1923-12-21
WHY BOYS SHUN
BUILDING TRADES

Under the heading, "Nhy Boys -
Net katef The Building Traces" the
editor Of The Building Age tPhila-
delphial contributes - his paper a
statement of the present shortage q
men IN these trades, With suggestions
Of how to make the trades more a..
lraesiye. That Young mcn prefer to
ge elsea here seems certain from the
results of questionable sent cut hN
his paper. Only one-third Of several
hundred youths, otherwise promising
candidates. would express any interest
In gelng into building The trouble,
We are told. seems to ~ partly the
lack Of continuous employment aud
partly the unpleasant working caaai
tiens. which the writer admits are an
tieuated compared with those IN Oh.
er industrial occupations. SIN.
yeang men Of the right sort are neesl-
ed in the building industry, and how
10 attract them il subject af con.
siderable concern 10 contractors. We
read:
we must leok the situation square
y In the face. The present shortage
Of capable building mechanics can h.
laid directly 10 the lack Of foresight
of builders and the older mechanics
themselves, We have recently been
living IN an axe where the mechanic
was looked down uuon--a sort of cog
In the industrial wheel. Men We're
known by numbers instead ef by
name, working conditions were priml.
tive, comparatively nothing was done
10 interest Young men in the different
trades until We were face to face with
the present serious condition.
Young men have been educated
away from the different building
trades. other eallings have been made
attractive, 50 they have comparative
ly little trouble IN filling their ranks
As Mr.. horowitz, the head of one
Of our biggest construction eompan-
les, sald--the methods I'm use to-day in
building construction are still primi-
tiye--mest contractors expect men TO
work under conditions that do not
exist in the worst OF so-ealled sweat
shop factories.
Why do not more young men take
To some building trades The work
is healthful. outdoor labor, where
skill and nerve are often required;
II is the sort OF work that shoull ap.
peal to red -blooded American young
men of good physique. One can have
thrills enough, and 10 see n structure
grow under you Is interesting work
one Is creating something.
The pay is good, There are many
callings that pay less and that are
in many WAYS less attractiyej some
are more dangerous, yet they do not
have the trouble the building trades
have in getting men, What is the am
swer? Let some of the young men
speak.
by personal interview and auegs
tionnaire, Building Age obtained the
hrst-hand, frank expressions of sew
eral hundred American young men,
not now employed In "A building trade.
These were men whose ages We're
principally between 20 and 26, the
most desirable ages for building re-
eruits. Note that word~-it sounds
better than apprentice or just in
definite No l42,' etc. Their average
pay was S2S.fI per week.
Now 33 per cent of these Young
men thought they would like TO en-.
ter some one of the building trades,
6S DER cent had no interest, and .
per cent were doubtful,
"Of the young men that thought
about trying some of the building
trades, certain preferences were made
AS follows.