As within a number of industries, mechanical contractors (those who install and repair HVAC heating, cooling and refrigeration units) struggle to find enough skilled technicians to do the work. It seems that many young people don’t like working with their hands these days.
The contractors have found themselves paying top dollar for those fresh out of school whoknow their value and sometimes jump from job to job for more money since the work is the same and they are in short supply.
This was brought home to me by the comments of a contractor, after a seminar I conducted in New York City. “It’s a delicate balance,” he said. “The young technicians work hard and are willing to get up at two in the morning to fix a supermarket freezer. But they also tell me when they’re taking time off vacation with their girlfriends and I have to figure it out. I end up relying on my veteran people since they are willing to come in on a moment’s notice to cover one of these young bucks. As you can imagine, that doesn’t sit too well with the long-timers.
“In fact,” he said, “We celebrate when one of them announces that he’s gotten engaged. We know that he’ll settle down and stop pushing the envelope. It’s a funny way to run a business.”