To my mind Rowe's message should be firmly nonpartisan due to it's very vital importance... Me! I'm a left of center Canadian who's always had labor &/ semiskilled jobs
It should be touched on that automation loads our industry into one big boat that is very fragile. Mechanical and manual labor will not and should not ever go away. We use electricity and computers for too many things now, and when they fail, there will be many many casualties in the first few hours and days. Too many people don't know how to do something as simple as purifying water, or cooking raw meat. Specialization has made us a very vulnerable people.
Alexander Supertramp you’re kidding me, right? After the three years that have passed since this was posted, you’re gonna try and say that Chuck Todd is credible in any way? I doubt that even he would recognize himself in their video. He almost seems..... honest in this video.
Good for them. On top of that, it took half the time, cost them WAY less, and in their early-mid 20s, are already starting a serious career. It depends on their employer, but they can begin a 401k plan or something similar, continue to build experience (so that by the time they are in their late 30s-early 40s, may just be getting close to a 6-figure salary). The money in these jobs is there, people just aren't aware of the opportunities like in the past.
Karl Thiecke Yep, that's another perk. Younger people are staying at home longer in record numbers. Can't pay for rent when you can barely pay for anything else.
I grew up in a town where I was one of the few kids in my high school who went to college, yet most of my trade skill friends are up to their eyeballs in medical bills, debt due to company layoffs or buyouts, and overall employer instability. I'm in my late 20s, and most of my blue collar friends make more than I do but would be absolutely crippled by a health emergency/natural disaster/etc. Until we fix our labor movement, blue collar will never be a fair substitute for white collar work.
So, I got a college degree and a masters and I counselled and taught in hospitals for thirty years. Good pay and fulfilling work. Then I moved from New York to New Zealand and became an orchardist. Unbelievable, working with your hands, as well as your mind, and being in nature while you do it. Fantastic. MR is totally correct, the farmers and skilled professionals are among the smartest people I have ever met - practical, resourceful, thoughtful, and smart with just plain common sense. I recommend a skills-based job most highly.
I am a coder, and I love working with my hands. At the end of the day when I finish debugging the latest version of the comment section protocols that you are using to leave all of your messages on youtube, it is satisfying to see people able to speak their minds in an open forum, no matter how ridiculous their opinions may be.
I am 53. I worked as a carpenter from my late teens until I was nearly 40. When there was a downturn in the economy I took a much lower paying office job. I fumbled at it for a couple years until I got into reporting with Excel, and later Access. Now I work as a Sr. Business Analyst for a large healthcare company. I spend most of my days creating databases & SharePoint sites &, writing VBA code. I do not have a college degree. I am self taught (thank you Google search!). I obtained several lower level Microsoft certifications early on to help me get my foot in the door. For someone with what most folks would consider very limited education I make very good money and am in constant demand at both my company and with the industry. College is not for everyone. Folks need to read the economy carefully before choosing whatever career path they embark upon be it college, technical school, or something else. Frankly I can't think of anything worse than getting a 4 year degree, not being able to find work, and being saddled with enormous student loan debt. By the way, I don't miss carpentry one bit and feel just as satisfied with what I create with code as I did when swinging a hammer.
I liked this video, and I love Mike Rowe. But I'm kind of getting tired of seeing people in suits sitting around a table discussing the work "other" people are doing. There is a reason Mike is the only one sitting at the table NOT in a suit. He gets it. What I would like to see is Mike sitting around a table, talking the state of the working class, with working class people. Those who know what it's like to have to work in horrifying conditions because it beats loosing everything you've spent the last 10-20 years trying to hold on to.
TheEarthCreature, if those "other" people could hear from the people who are in "the trenches" I think it would have a bit more impact. That's what I loved about programs like Dirty Jobs, and even Under Cover Boss. Granted the later I believe was a bit hyped as "reality" shows go. But it did give those CEO's a look at what the people who worked for them go through on a daily basis. EnterRapture, I am in no way vilifying their job. I just find it hard to swallow their opinion about jobs they have 0 experience at. I'm not going to sit there and critique the work a salvage diver does when I've never put on a wetsuit.
Screamin Eagle What I would like to see is these fake talking suits joining Mike to do some really dirty jobs themselves. Seeing them so obviously feign interest made me cringe.
As a great country we give every person a chance for a college degree. Mind you that they may be ,idiots, criminals, etc. You know , like the fella who tattooed Romney on his forehead only to to tell the reporter that he wasn't stupid,that he had a college degree. And yet they look down on the rest of us. I went to trade school! I would gladly ask any sheepskin who had a problem me if he would like to come out to the parking lot to discuss the matter.
You have a point there John. I did good at school...but I sucked at college. I got out after two year and went into a factory. My brother got his degree...but it wasn't until his final year that they told him that he practically needed a master's to do anything related to his field. And even though I did the "dumb" thing and dropped out, I have a paid for car, I have no debt other than what I owe on my house. All of this, and I'm 28. The problem I feel is twofold. One is we put such a focus on the "traditional" four year degrees and no one thinks about trade school (because if I thought about it, I might have done that). And the second, is that there are so many useless degrees in college right now, all just so the colleges can take in all of those students loans the government grants.
When I was a young 20'ish girl in Anaheim, CA., I worked at a manufacturing company in Fullerton. The machine I worked on was one where I helped assemble flow meters. I loved working there. The people I worked with were my extended family and my boss was like a mentor to me. Community. I will never forget
I went to a hvac trade school and all my friends went to a 4 year college. Im 30 with my own upper middle class home and own my own car and some recreational toys and no college debt. Most of my "college educated" friends still live with roomates and 20g or more in college debt working at some cube job on the phone all day making lower middle income.
The whole point Mike is trying to make is that blue collar work is not less fulfilling than white collar work and this whole focus on the 4-year degree pushes some people down the wrong path. That being said, blue collar work isnt inherently "better" than white collar work. If you feel fulfilled doing hvac then thats fine, maybe your friends enjoy their "cube job on the phone all day".
Yeah and you are as dumb as a rock if you think anyone believe all of your college educated friends got "cube jobs" making lower middle income. I have trade friends that just ruined their body doing shitty dumb work for low tier pay.
It really all depends on what is studied. Of course there are going to be gaps in pay, and usually coming out of trade school you can make more than someone coming out of college. But the potential to surpass that trade career with a career based on a college degree, especially an advanced one, comes quickly. Example, an mba in finance from a higher end school, i.e. Stanford, after 2 years of study can net someone an annual income of $260k+ easily, right after they finish their degree. Comp Sci, engineers, physicists, economists, and plenty others can all start making $150k+ while still early in their careers. That's the difference, but again, it largely depends on whoever making sure they study something lucrative that they are interested in, and there's also the fact of career flexibility. While hvac is a great career, and pays well, that's all you'll be doing. If studying Comp Sci, you can work in any number of fields for any number of companies in any number of locations.
MIKE ROWE FOR PRESIDENT! I know he has no interest in the job, but I'd rather see him than most of the kinds of people the two main parties keep giving us instead.
I'd say in Canada here it's a total flop. trades are more celebrated and encouraged. but still looked down upon by educators and career counselors. there's something like 3% job placement in the field of sociology and psychology combined. yet millenials such as myself are filling up those courses every semester and racking student debt.
Adam Bernard, my experience is perhaps the inverse of yours. I trained as a tool and die maker, but when the trade collapsed as jobs went overseas, I worked as an unlicensed machinist and CNC programmer. I worked a weekend shift (three 12-1/2 shifts) that allowed me to attend school full time. A humanities degree plus an engineering diploma plus work experience in the trades allowed me to break into the professions. My take on the trades in Canada is that any trade exposed to the global market will be volatile and poorly paid. If, for example, the Chinese began shipping modular houses, the local building trades would collapse. The pay differential is just too large between Canadian and Chinese wages.
I'm conservative and voted for trump. But this is precisely the kind of thing I point my fellow conservatives to when I say "liberals aren't bad people, we just approach the same issues with different mind sets. And we all want the same thing. Success for ourselves and a better future for our children"
yep, a lot stem grads can't find work because those companies are looking to make a lot of money off cheap foreign workers. If Trump were to abolish or reform the visa program to require those companies to look domestically first, they'd find plenty of qualified people. As to whether they'd hire them or say they couldn't find qualified people is another story however.
Agree with you. In the US were are predatory, imperialist capitalist. It puts a price tag on everything and with no sacred but PROFIT, even human life, healthcare, and war are all part of wealth creation. The idea that Apple or Microsoft can't find qualified workers from Harvard, Yale, MIT, UCLA, or Penn State and hundreds of other colleges is pure BS. What they are saying is they don't want to pay a living wage to these students who are in debt and can't work for 30k a year.
You are either mis-informed or a liar. The Senator who peddled the creation of the Federal Reserve and Income Taxes was Conservative Republican, Nelson Aldrich. The Progressive President, Democrat Woodrow Wilson, warned against giving so much power to the money trusts and said giving them control over the Nation's credit systems would be dangerous for American Capitalism. If you're going to spout off like an expert about something, I suggest you take a minute to do some research before hitting the submit button.
nvwatcher Wilson had to sign on the dotted line to make the Federal Reserve official. He later wrote about what a terrible thing he had done. Apologies aren't worth much when it comes to the erosion of freedom. He's just as guilty.
I'm a non-Union filmworker. I worked in lighting & special effects on a hugely popular TV series for 2 years. It took us 12 days to shoot a 1-hour episode.After we won a few Emmys, the show's budget was doubled. Unions took over the show, firing 42 of us, replacing us with 62 union guys and payed them 40% higher wages than our crew had gotten. You can imagine I was bummed out, lost my job that paid about $1,250 a week. It was the beginning of summer and I decided to do something different than film work. I spent the next 90 days touring with a large traveling circus. It was the hardest, most dangerous work I've ever done ...and it only paid $150 a week. It was humbling work, a rich life experience and I survived it, went in to really thrive from its affect on me.
I'm 39 and in a 10 week welding vocation school. 5910$ in total to be a certified welder. I went for one reason. Mike Row said there is a skills gap and I'm going to fill that gap!
I'm a machinist by trade. It's complicated and frustrating at times, but it's a good field. Most of the people who are critics of the hands on jobs have never worked an honest day in their lives.
There are a lot of people that need a simple job - difficult maybe, dirty maybe, but just can't handle complicated. They like the old fashioned assembly line job. You are just not going to "retrain" them for what is left after all the simple jobs are outsourced. And it doesn't help that society, schools and the media are doing a great job of dumbing down people and creating the need for even more simple jobs.
I agree, but it's a fact that many people are uncomfortable accepting. For there to be a greater chance for that segment of society to get a job we'd need a massive cutback in regulation, taxes, licensure, minimum wage, etc so there might be a chance to bring more simple jobs back to the US. I think that would have a huge benefit to everyone because more factories also means more construction, more machine repair, more secretaries, more IT people, more managers, etc. Even very basic factories that employ mostly low-skilled labor doing simple tasks will also provide employment up the value chain. I think we'd be a lot better off. Though I'm not optimistic we'll see big cutbacks in the government overhead that currently makes it impossible to expand the number of factory jobs dramatically.
Mike Rowe has so much appreciation for people with blue collar jobs because he made a career out of putting himself into their shoes and walking many miles in them. We are almost three years removed from the publishing of this video yet there is still much to be inspired by.
Just kind of mindlessly clicked this video cause I remember the name Mike Rowe way back when and boy was I surprised. Rowe was articulate and had absolutely incredible points. These 7 minutes were eye opening and I encourage everyone to really take a moment and ponder what was said around that table.
Benjamin Fisher same here. Aluminum welder and I love what I do. I love to fabricate and machines can only do so much untill a human hands needs to come in and make those highly complex welds. Keep on burning brother 😀
I grew up in the east end of Hamilton, Ontario. The blue collar chip on my shoulder was knocked off many years ago. In this town working class people are constantly looking for validation. Too bad. My only concern is that people are given the opportunity to add value. It doesn't matter to me if they are doing a dirty job or a clean job. Manual labour or intellectual work. How can people make a positive contribution to either our economy or our social networks? Doesn't matter to me. But if we can get greater efficiency, lower prices, less waste and perform the work in a safer manner with automation then we should do it.
Jobs are out there over 5,800,000 of them that people don't want to do. Well it's time to tell America after 10 yrs on break it is time to go back to work. I am tired of paying for your laziness..............
Remember, a lot of those jobs are for *skilled* tradespeople. You'd have to invest a couple years in pre-apprenticeship programs first. How'd you like to turn your back on what you've done your whole life and learn how to build engines instead? I would if ever needed to work again but what about you?
I had an actual feeling of accomplishment working, making a tangible product. When I worked behind a desk taking calls for an ISP there was no satisfaction. The feeling might be different if I never had jobs making things before.
3:50 Ppl lose their jobs because of automation AND globalization. Quit trying to look for some clever, pitch to the ill-informed of the audience, that automation has done ALL of this. It..has..not. Moving entire companies, with said jobs, to other countries is a major part of the problem in the US, doesn't matter how many robots they use if the company is gone.
I work in skilled trades and too often do I see the little man(the skilled workers) getting under paid and treated like garbage because management sees these people as uninteligent and worthless. They don't listen to our opinions we get paid way less and work significantly harder and longer hours. Education seems like the only way out of this treatment.
I have worked a few "dirty jobs" when I was younger and they were fine. Plumbing apprentice, truck driving and water well drilling as a laborer for about $11 and hour. Then I got into retail for less $ but more advancement opportunity. Two companies and 10 years later I am in middle management and making over 50k a year and have zero college debt. Not horrible for a 32 year old that grew up on welfare. I also make every penny as much as my wife who has 2 bachelors degrees in science. Retail is tough but is not the dead end some people think it is... Well not if you work hard and take advantage of the opportunities given. I work with people who have been here 15 years and are still cashiers...
I worked 25 years as an electrician ( commercial and industrial) for the same company. I saw fewer American young kids every year till today its mostly illegals working with alot that dont have license and now that my back is in bad shape at 54, I can not physically do it anymore. Now I have to be in a supervising position that I can not find.
I’m a 34, blue collar field mechanical repair technician living in an upper middle class house almost paid off, own my 3 new vehicles outright, a few recreational vehicles, a wonderful wife that is fortunate to stay at home with our 3 children, and don’t struggle when we want something. No college degree just not scared to work my butt off for what I deserve. There isn’t unemployment in this country. There is a sickness. If a small town Georgia boy on a Georgia education can do it so can anybody else. Cheers mike Rowe for making an interest and fighting for the rest of us.
Before retirement, I was a maintenance technician in a plane where automation was slowly taking over the available jobs. I used to constantly hear from fellow employees about how unfair it was to lose out to a machine, and my answer was always the same; the machines can't program themselves, and they can't fix themselves (yet). Humans are needed for that task. Many always had the same answer; "I don't know how to do that stuff." My answer never wavered; "Neither did I, but I learned how to."
For real, whatever your previous work was, if it got replaced by a machine completely, it’s probably likely that you will be able to learn to service or supplement it and also take on something else.
I do work hard . y do you assume I expect entitlement? apparently you have a better job than most folks. you act like you have worked hard and deserve more and that's part of the problem!
I'm an electrician in North Carolina. We have 12,600 licensed electricians in our state. Out of that I am one of 130 that are under 35 years old. The average age for a licensed electrician is 58 years old in North Carolina.
Those of us that work with our hands are a lot smarter than those like politicians and the media that work with their mouths (and keyboards) often give us credit for. I turned down a scholarship to Vanderbilt and have instead done very very well as a contractor.
Actually I believe the Board of Directors approves compensation for CEO's at most companies, and this is little more than a rubber stamp. Can't wait til outsourcing reaches executive level positions... ;)
noone can look out for the working class better than a billionaire, born a millionaire, who has never done a days honest work in his life. he treated the working class so well when he screwed small business owners out of their contracts in Atlantic city.
No he's not he just fooled a lot of people into thinking he is. Just look at his cabinet picks all a bunch of wall street cronies and big business men just as removed from the working class as all of those career politicians in DC. Fact is if you want a good job go get it, Trump, Hillary, Obama all of them can't help you in the way you think they can.
Mike makes a lot of sense no matter what your political ideology, and he does so in the most articulate yet affable way. Imagine what we could achieve if all politicians, legislators and policy makers were like him.
I remember back when I worked in a plant nursery and was a waitress. I really really enjoyed both of those jobs, much more than sitting around doing some abstract thing He hits the nail on the head.. people like to do a job to completion. That's the key.
I think someone like Mike Rowe should be president. Someone that understands what it's like in a hard-working middle to low class job. He's intelligent, kind and doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. I just think it would be a nice change to have someone like Mike Rowe in office.
Mike is such a good guy. Why can't we get someone like him in office instead of not jobs constantly. Christ. This world would finally have the potential to be a decent again.
Fantastic exchange with Meet the Press and Mike Rowe. It sounds like we don't have the answer yet in regards to how to change our thinking about preparing for the work force but we are clearly seeing the problem and asking the right questions.
The working class under the Trump administration isn’t forgotten anymore. Trump was thinking about us the whole time he was signing the tax give away to his rich buddies. With friends like Trump who needs enemies!!!
What, IMO, Mike didn't ( admittedly ) completely express, ( and none of the "suits" around him got ) is "job satisfaction" for most Americans isn't linked to some white-collar fantasy of what satisfies most Americans. Its about doing a task that engages both mind and body while delivering a living wage. If it offers chance for advancement, that's a bonus. If it offers the opportunity to strike out on your own, that's a double bonus ! Not to put words in Mr. Rowe's mouth, but what he's pushing is anyone can climb that ladder of success using acquired trade and manual skills essential to our society we all aspire to ! IOW, its nice to be able to design a bridge, but a lot of individuals - with a panoply of skills and experience - have to exist to complete it !
I never wanted to go through more school BS(my term), therefore, once I graduated, I decided to work wherever my feet and circumstance lead me. My 1st job was at a carwash (the things people leave/have in their cars?!), then a bank teller, then a marine/boat mechanic. You get the trend - I worked all types of jobs and enjoyed aspects of each and every one. I'm a retired air traffic controller that enjoys volunteering to tutor English and Math, as well as teaching auto mechanics to local kids in an after school program. Never had a need for a college degree.
Bullet Craft First of all, if you don't have a job, lower prices are especially important. This really is Economics 101. Lower prices mean consumers have more money in their pocket, which they'll spend on things they previously couldn't afford, which creates more jobs. This benefit is obviously much harder to quantify than the number of jobs lost. You can't really predict where each worker will end up or even what new types of jobs will be created, but that doesn't mean they'll never find a job. Jobs lost to automation are not the same as jobs lost to recession, even though it might feel the same on a local scale. Imagine if farming had never been mechanized and was still labor-intensive. Would we be more or less wealthy today? Retaining jobs that could be automated is essentially welfare. How is that good for the economy? It's also patronizing and condescending. "Oh, those simple workers will never be able to do anything else, so let's keep them busy doing a job a robot can do." Mike's point was that people are focused on industries with little opportunity instead of following opportunities. Doesn't that also apply to those who want to cling to jobs that are going away instead of pursuing industries with available jobs? Economics, at its core, isn't about jobs or money. It's about "stuff". A strong economy is one that efficiently provides the most stuff to people. If everything was automated, that would be great. We wouldn't have to work to acquire anything and would have a life of leisure.
Bullet Craft Automation makes better things cheaper and greater productivity creates MORE jobs. Ask yourself, should we use backhoes in construction, or hire 20 men with shovels to do the same job in 10 times the time and cost? That in turn makes construction contracts more expensive and so there will be less of them, ergo less jobs in the long run. And if you think we should hire 20 men with shovels, then why not 100 men with soup spoons to dig with instead? With greater productivity comes greater opportunity.
Curtis Densmore and the few people at the top, the owners of all of that automation, would just give away all of their products so the rest of us don't have to work?
LucisFerre1 Automation will create new jobs as a sure bet, but you cannot make a definitive statement like, "it will create MORE jobs." And you definitely cannot say it will create MORE jobs with decent wages, because you don't know.
Take it from a former reporter nowadays enjoying his final decades as a partially disabled woodworking artist specializing in a rare artform, the building of all hand-made Nativity Creches made in the United States . . . and I was a political junkie reporter, no less, nothing beats the inner heartfelt satisfaction of seeing a pile of scraps become a work of art. And nothing makes me feel more regretful some days in remembering how often I used to enjoy taking somebody down to a pile of scraps. Yes, prideful people who are continually making life for people who work with their hands more difficult and less financially rewarding, much less significant, should be taken down a few notches. But just with a touch of sanding here n' there. This alone is enough reason to praise the efforts of men like Mike Rowe who more than holds his own with the big shots and the ever immaculately clean fingernails.
I've never seen a more likable or intelligent man on TV today. Good job Mike.
True, he is no dummy.
I was in the Seabees so I loved his show on that topic. He's one of my heros.
Mike Rowe is twice as smart as any MSM dummy that has ever interviewed him
Mike Rowe and others like Jeremy Wade make tv interesting again , now the Jersey shore crap 😴
To my mind Rowe's message should be firmly nonpartisan due to it's very vital importance...
Me! I'm a left of center Canadian who's always had labor &/ semiskilled jobs
This was the most unbiased, honest news story from NBC I have seen in a long time
It may in fact be the only one.
It should be touched on that automation loads our industry into one big boat that is very fragile. Mechanical and manual labor will not and should not ever go away. We use electricity and computers for too many things now, and when they fail, there will be many many casualties in the first few hours and days. Too many people don't know how to do something as simple as purifying water, or cooking raw meat. Specialization has made us a very vulnerable people.
Anything with Mike Rowe is unbiased and honest. Mike just tells it how it is basically.
Why I haven't watched since Tim russert for that reason
All except the title of the video.
Intellectually Mike is way ahead of the suits at that table.
Alexander Supertramp you’re kidding me, right?
After the three years that have passed since this was posted, you’re gonna try and say that Chuck Todd is credible in any way? I doubt that even he would recognize himself in their video. He almost seems..... honest in this video.
In a nutshell, work ethic.
I just saw him in a PragerU ad, dood licks all the boots.
Absolutely
2 of my 4 children went to trade school, and started work right out of school, and never looked back, and in this economic climate, I'm glad.
Good for them. On top of that, it took half the time, cost them WAY less, and in their early-mid 20s, are already starting a serious career. It depends on their employer, but they can begin a 401k plan or something similar, continue to build experience (so that by the time they are in their late 30s-early 40s, may just be getting close to a 6-figure salary). The money in these jobs is there, people just aren't aware of the opportunities like in the past.
Zach N It saved me a fortune, and they were both out of the house sooner, haha
Karl Thiecke Yep, that's another perk. Younger people are staying at home longer in record numbers. Can't pay for rent when you can barely pay for anything else.
I grew up in a town where I was one of the few kids in my high school who went to college, yet most of my trade skill friends are up to their eyeballs in medical bills, debt due to company layoffs or buyouts, and overall employer instability. I'm in my late 20s, and most of my blue collar friends make more than I do but would be absolutely crippled by a health emergency/natural disaster/etc.
Until we fix our labor movement, blue collar will never be a fair substitute for white collar work.
Mikey McDowell you think a white collar job protects you from medical bills?
He should be a politician for a day, the dirtiest job that has ever existed
Thats a job to dirty even fore mike
Lol even mike wouldn’t shovel that much that much bs.
A day ? For life !
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I love how humble Mike is. No man, it isn't above your pay grade anymore. Hasn't been for quite some time.
So, I got a college degree and a masters and I counselled and taught in hospitals for thirty years. Good pay and fulfilling work. Then I moved from New York to New Zealand and became an orchardist. Unbelievable, working with your hands, as well as your mind, and being in nature while you do it. Fantastic. MR is totally correct, the farmers and skilled professionals are among the smartest people I have ever met - practical, resourceful, thoughtful, and smart with just plain common sense. I recommend a skills-based job most highly.
I am an electrician and love working with my hands, after I am done with a job lights, switches, fans, heaters, or AC units work. Its satisfying
I am a coder, and I love working with my hands. At the end of the day when I finish debugging the latest version of the comment section protocols that you are using to leave all of your messages on youtube, it is satisfying to see people able to speak their minds in an open forum, no matter how ridiculous their opinions may be.
I am 53. I worked as a carpenter from my late teens until I was nearly 40. When there was a downturn in the economy I took a much lower paying office job. I fumbled at it for a couple years until I got into reporting with Excel, and later Access. Now I work as a Sr. Business Analyst for a large healthcare company. I spend most of my days creating databases & SharePoint sites &, writing VBA code. I do not have a college degree. I am self taught (thank you Google search!). I obtained several lower level Microsoft certifications early on to help me get my foot in the door. For someone with what most folks would consider very limited education I make very good money and am in constant demand at both my company and with the industry. College is not for everyone. Folks need to read the economy carefully before choosing whatever career path they embark upon be it college, technical school, or something else. Frankly I can't think of anything worse than getting a 4 year degree, not being able to find work, and being saddled with enormous student loan debt. By the way, I don't miss carpentry one bit and feel just as satisfied with what I create with code as I did when swinging a hammer.
Hugh Mungus Hahaha, good one!
Jeff Cram I've though about switching from Security to an Electrician......I love Security but the pay sucks
@@thespasticmindofastonedguy3266 The people who programmed the UA-cam comment section should be fired though.
He's so god damn humble. Such a likable guy.
I liked this video, and I love Mike Rowe. But I'm kind of getting tired of seeing people in suits sitting around a table discussing the work "other" people are doing. There is a reason Mike is the only one sitting at the table NOT in a suit. He gets it.
What I would like to see is Mike sitting around a table, talking the state of the working class, with working class people. Those who know what it's like to have to work in horrifying conditions because it beats loosing everything you've spent the last 10-20 years trying to hold on to.
It was a really good interview though!
It's important to remember there are a lot of those "other" people who watched this and possibly gained something from it, though.
I get what you're saying, but they are doing their jobs. It's kind of a double standard if you praise one type of job but vilify another
TheEarthCreature, if those "other" people could hear from the people who are in "the trenches" I think it would have a bit more impact. That's what I loved about programs like Dirty Jobs, and even Under Cover Boss. Granted the later I believe was a bit hyped as "reality" shows go. But it did give those CEO's a look at what the people who worked for them go through on a daily basis.
EnterRapture, I am in no way vilifying their job. I just find it hard to swallow their opinion about jobs they have 0 experience at. I'm not going to sit there and critique the work a salvage diver does when I've never put on a wetsuit.
Screamin Eagle What I would like to see is these fake talking suits joining Mike to do some really dirty jobs themselves. Seeing them so obviously feign interest made me cringe.
Mike Rowe should be department of Labor.
Edward Walker you are spot on!
Amen. But he makes too much sense when he talks. Hell, he ought to be both Ed and Labor Sec. Well, dream on.
As a great country we give every person a chance for a college degree. Mind you that they may be ,idiots, criminals, etc. You know , like the fella who tattooed Romney on his forehead only to to tell the reporter that he wasn't stupid,that he had a college degree. And yet they look down on the rest of us. I went to trade school! I would gladly ask any sheepskin who had a problem me if he would like to come out to the parking lot to discuss the matter.
You have a point there John. I did good at school...but I sucked at college. I got out after two year and went into a factory. My brother got his degree...but it wasn't until his final year that they told him that he practically needed a master's to do anything related to his field. And even though I did the "dumb" thing and dropped out, I have a paid for car, I have no debt other than what I owe on my house. All of this, and I'm 28.
The problem I feel is twofold. One is we put such a focus on the "traditional" four year degrees and no one thinks about trade school (because if I thought about it, I might have done that). And the second, is that there are so many useless degrees in college right now, all just so the colleges can take in all of those students loans the government grants.
So, so true. He's much too intelligent to be a politician...but we do need someone like him running this crazy country.
Mikes dirtiest job yet. In the heart of the swamp.
When I was a young 20'ish girl in Anaheim, CA., I worked at a manufacturing company in Fullerton. The machine I worked on was one where I helped assemble flow meters. I loved working there. The people I worked with were my extended family and my boss was like a mentor to me. Community. I will never forget
I went to a hvac trade school and all my friends went to a 4 year college. Im 30 with my own upper middle class home and own my own car and some recreational toys and no college debt. Most of my "college educated" friends still live with roomates and 20g or more in college debt working at some cube job on the phone all day making lower middle income.
Hvac is no joke $$$$$$$$$
The whole point Mike is trying to make is that blue collar work is not less fulfilling than white collar work and this whole focus on the 4-year degree pushes some people down the wrong path. That being said, blue collar work isnt inherently "better" than white collar work. If you feel fulfilled doing hvac then thats fine, maybe your friends enjoy their "cube job on the phone all day".
C- ROCK me too man. I totally agree.
Yeah and you are as dumb as a rock if you think anyone believe all of your college educated friends got "cube jobs" making lower middle income. I have trade friends that just ruined their body doing shitty dumb work for low tier pay.
It really all depends on what is studied. Of course there are going to be gaps in pay, and usually coming out of trade school you can make more than someone coming out of college. But the potential to surpass that trade career with a career based on a college degree, especially an advanced one, comes quickly. Example, an mba in finance from a higher end school, i.e. Stanford, after 2 years of study can net someone an annual income of $260k+ easily, right after they finish their degree. Comp Sci, engineers, physicists, economists, and plenty others can all start making $150k+ while still early in their careers. That's the difference, but again, it largely depends on whoever making sure they study something lucrative that they are interested in, and there's also the fact of career flexibility. While hvac is a great career, and pays well, that's all you'll be doing. If studying Comp Sci, you can work in any number of fields for any number of companies in any number of locations.
MIKE ROWE FOR PRESIDENT! I know he has no interest in the job, but I'd rather see him than most of the kinds of people the two main parties keep giving us instead.
Andrew Yang + Mike Rowe = Dream Ticket. I don't care who's on top, just get those guys into govt
Mike Rowe always seems to be the smartest guy on the set, no matter what show he appears on.
love Mike Rowe, he's such a genuine guy
I don't know why, but it seems like Mike Rowe is the best.
I'd say in Canada here it's a total flop. trades are more celebrated and encouraged. but still looked down upon by educators and career counselors. there's something like 3% job placement in the field of sociology and psychology combined. yet millenials such as myself are filling up those courses every semester and racking student debt.
Dayne Roman as a fellow Canadian and double university alum, I agree with your appraisal.
Adam Bernard, my experience is perhaps the inverse of yours. I trained as a tool and die maker, but when the trade collapsed as jobs went overseas, I worked as an unlicensed machinist and CNC programmer. I worked a weekend shift (three 12-1/2 shifts) that allowed me to attend school full time. A humanities degree plus an engineering diploma plus work experience in the trades allowed me to break into the professions.
My take on the trades in Canada is that any trade exposed to the global market will be volatile and poorly paid. If, for example, the Chinese began shipping modular houses, the local building trades would collapse. The pay differential is just too large between Canadian and Chinese wages.
Your WAY better off in a skilled trade then a degree in sociology or park management or the many other trash throw away degrees.
Okay kudos. Damn good interview. Thank you so much for this. I really appreciate this upload.
NBC just got a brownie point.
I'm conservative and voted for trump. But this is precisely the kind of thing I point my fellow conservatives to when I say "liberals aren't bad people, we just approach the same issues with different mind sets. And we all want the same thing. Success for ourselves and a better future for our children"
The other thing about computer jobs is that they are going overseas very quickly.
yep, a lot stem grads can't find work because those companies are looking to make a lot of money off cheap foreign workers. If Trump were to abolish or reform the visa program to require those companies to look domestically first, they'd find plenty of qualified people. As to whether they'd hire them or say they couldn't find qualified people is another story however.
Agree with you. In the US were are predatory, imperialist capitalist. It puts a price tag on everything and with no sacred but PROFIT, even human life, healthcare, and war are all part of wealth creation. The idea that Apple or Microsoft can't find qualified workers from Harvard, Yale, MIT, UCLA, or Penn State and hundreds of other colleges is pure BS. What they are saying is they don't want to pay a living wage to these students who are in debt and can't work for 30k a year.
oil9vinergar
That's grade A poetry, I love it
You are either mis-informed or a liar.
The Senator who peddled the creation of the Federal Reserve and Income Taxes was Conservative Republican, Nelson Aldrich. The Progressive President, Democrat Woodrow Wilson, warned against giving so much power to the money trusts and said giving them control over the Nation's credit systems would be dangerous for American Capitalism.
If you're going to spout off like an expert about something, I suggest you take a minute to do some research before hitting the submit button.
nvwatcher Wilson had to sign on the dotted line to make the Federal Reserve official. He later wrote about what a terrible thing he had done. Apologies aren't worth much when it comes to the erosion of freedom. He's just as guilty.
I'm a non-Union filmworker. I worked in lighting & special effects on a hugely popular TV series for 2 years. It took us 12 days to shoot a 1-hour episode.After we won a few Emmys, the show's budget was doubled. Unions took over the show, firing 42 of us, replacing us with 62 union guys and payed them 40% higher wages than our crew had gotten. You can imagine I was bummed out, lost my job that paid about $1,250 a week.
It was the beginning of summer and I decided to do something different than film work. I spent the next 90 days touring with a large traveling circus. It was the hardest, most dangerous work I've ever done ...and it only paid $150 a week. It was humbling work, a rich life experience and I survived it, went in to really thrive from its affect on me.
I only watched this because Mike Rowe was on it. Other than that NBC has nothing to offer me that is meaningful.
ronkpaws1 no one cares
ronkpaws1 I agree
You have nothing meaningful to offer me!
I agree.
I'm 39 and in a 10 week welding vocation school. 5910$ in total to be a certified welder. I went for one reason. Mike Row said there is a skills gap and I'm going to fill that gap!
I'm a machinist by trade. It's complicated and frustrating at times, but it's a good field. Most of the people who are critics of the hands on jobs have never worked an honest day in their lives.
hands!
what's the pay for a machinists?
Spoken like a true zero c.
Mike Rowe is a national treasure. a guy standing up for the blue collar workers, like me! thanks mike!
There are a lot of people that need a simple job - difficult maybe, dirty maybe, but just can't handle complicated. They like the old fashioned assembly line job. You are just not going to "retrain" them for what is left after all the simple jobs are outsourced. And it doesn't help that society, schools and the media are doing a great job of dumbing down people and creating the need for even more simple jobs.
I agree, but it's a fact that many people are uncomfortable accepting. For there to be a greater chance for that segment of society to get a job we'd need a massive cutback in regulation, taxes, licensure, minimum wage, etc so there might be a chance to bring more simple jobs back to the US. I think that would have a huge benefit to everyone because more factories also means more construction, more machine repair, more secretaries, more IT people, more managers, etc. Even very basic factories that employ mostly low-skilled labor doing simple tasks will also provide employment up the value chain. I think we'd be a lot better off. Though I'm not optimistic we'll see big cutbacks in the government overhead that currently makes it impossible to expand the number of factory jobs dramatically.
I went to welding school for 6 months and got a job before graduating. Starting pay $15/hr. Been there 2 years and got several raises so far
These were the conversations everyone should have had the morning after the Election.
God bless Mike Rowe. He's a class act and a real down to earth kinda guy.
Mike Rowe has so much appreciation for people with blue collar jobs because he made a career out of putting himself into their shoes and walking many miles in them. We are almost three years removed from the publishing of this video yet there is still much to be inspired by.
Just kind of mindlessly clicked this video cause I remember the name Mike Rowe way back when and boy was I surprised. Rowe was articulate and had absolutely incredible points. These 7 minutes were eye opening and I encourage everyone to really take a moment and ponder what was said around that table.
I'm a blue collar welder making 13 bucks an hour and not planning to quit...
Benjamin Fisher same here. Aluminum welder and I love what I do. I love to fabricate and machines can only do so much untill a human hands needs to come in and make those highly complex welds. Keep on burning brother 😀
mcpheonixx will do
MrSafetymeeting lol I'm 16 so I got a while. and my mom' has stage 4 breast cancer so no problem there
Benjamin Fisher God bless you sir I respect all hard working Americans !!!🇺🇸👍😃
Omar Raymundo thanks man.
Holy crap, they were able to pull off a good interview!!
i love this, mike rowe is the man
Mike Rowe is awesome
That was fascinating to watch. You need Mike Rowe on the show more often!
Hey mike I tried to apply for your scholarship. I may be 50 yrs old but not afraid of work. Thank you and good bless Eric
I grew up in the east end of Hamilton, Ontario. The blue collar chip on my shoulder was knocked off many years ago. In this town working class people are constantly looking for validation. Too bad. My only concern is that people are given the opportunity to add value. It doesn't matter to me if they are doing a dirty job or a clean job. Manual labour or intellectual work. How can people make a positive contribution to either our economy or our social networks? Doesn't matter to me. But if we can get greater efficiency, lower prices, less waste and perform the work in a safer manner with automation then we should do it.
***** Grandma?
I'm a union steam/refrigeration engineer. My union has a 3 year apprenticeship. I'm doing much better then my friends who went to college.
He is such a clear thinker, and humble. Real man!
Jobs are out there over 5,800,000 of them that people don't want to do. Well it's time to tell America after 10 yrs on break it is time to go back to work. I am tired of paying for your laziness..............
Remember, a lot of those jobs are for *skilled* tradespeople. You'd have to invest a couple years in pre-apprenticeship programs first. How'd you like to turn your back on what you've done your whole life and learn how to build engines instead? I would if ever needed to work again but what about you?
If I could have a cup of coffee that tastes as good as Mike Rowe's voice sounds, I would be very happy
I had an actual feeling of accomplishment working, making a tangible product. When I worked behind a desk taking calls for an ISP there was no satisfaction. The feeling might be different if I never had jobs making things before.
Mike Rowe - the smartest person at the table!
Mike Rowe for President
Never knew any tv show host to be so well read, outspoken, and intellectually concise as Rowe.
“The Blue Collar Lottery” the fire department requires a GED
3:50 Ppl lose their jobs because of automation AND globalization. Quit trying to look for some clever, pitch to the ill-informed of the audience, that automation has done ALL of this. It..has..not. Moving entire companies, with said jobs, to other countries is a major part of the problem in the US, doesn't matter how many robots they use if the company is gone.
I work in skilled trades and too often do I see the little man(the skilled workers) getting under paid and treated like garbage because management sees these people as uninteligent and worthless. They don't listen to our opinions we get paid way less and work significantly harder and longer hours. Education seems like the only way out of this treatment.
I don't mind doing some of those "dirty jobs" for decent wage,but I can't even find those.I work in retail for minimum wage while attending school.
I found some, but I will tell you they are a lot more difficult than retail jobs. And the entry level pay isn't the greatest.
I have worked a few "dirty jobs" when I was younger and they were fine. Plumbing apprentice, truck driving and water well drilling as a laborer for about $11 and hour. Then I got into retail for less $ but more advancement opportunity. Two companies and 10 years later I am in middle management and making over 50k a year and have zero college debt. Not horrible for a 32 year old that grew up on welfare. I also make every penny as much as my wife who has 2 bachelors degrees in science. Retail is tough but is not the dead end some people think it is... Well not if you work hard and take advantage of the opportunities given. I work with people who have been here 15 years and are still cashiers...
I worked 25 years as an electrician ( commercial and industrial) for the same company. I saw fewer American young kids every year till today its mostly illegals working with alot that dont have license and now that my back is in bad shape at 54, I can not physically do it anymore. Now I have to be in a supervising position that I can not find.
I REALLY like Mike Rowe. Voices like his need to be heard every day.
I’m a 34, blue collar field mechanical repair technician living in an upper middle class house almost paid off, own my 3 new vehicles outright, a few recreational vehicles, a wonderful wife that is fortunate to stay at home with our 3 children, and don’t struggle when we want something. No college degree just not scared to work my butt off for what I deserve. There isn’t unemployment in this country. There is a sickness. If a small town Georgia boy on a Georgia education can do it so can anybody else. Cheers mike Rowe for making an interest and fighting for the rest of us.
im a blue collar roofer and i admire mike and his hard work
#motivated
Before retirement, I was a maintenance technician in a plane where automation was slowly taking over the available jobs. I used to constantly hear from fellow employees about how unfair it was to lose out to a machine, and my answer was always the same; the machines can't program themselves, and they can't fix themselves (yet). Humans are needed for that task. Many always had the same answer; "I don't know how to do that stuff." My answer never wavered; "Neither did I, but I learned how to."
For real, whatever your previous work was, if it got replaced by a machine completely, it’s probably likely that you will be able to learn to service or supplement it and also take on something else.
I always wonder how much he got teased in school, seeing as how his name is MICRO
Rowe 2024
that would be the 1st time in my life i would register to vote and cast my vote for him
Sometimes we cant find the job we love we have to love the job we find
Great job guys
I watched Mike's Dirty Jobs, and I'm in Australia! Great man! 🤠🙌
I feel like Mike Rowe could really reach people on the left without watering down conservatism. We really need more people like him on the front line.
Amen to that!!! 🇺🇸💪
Mike Rowe is a Class Act type of guy.
This was soooo fascinating watching this in hindsight!
pay us more and we will feel better!
that simple
blake Brewer you do realize you have to work hard and work for a raise.... stop thinking your so entitled , work hard for the raise.
I do work hard . y do you assume I expect entitlement? apparently you have a better job than most folks. you act like you have worked hard and deserve more and that's part of the problem!
I probably make more than you do! I'm not speaking specifically for myself I'm speaking for the millions that work their ass off for very low pay!
blake Brewer I work my ass off , never complained , worked mu way up to the top 😂nice try tho city should get paid more tho
"It's a different type of dirty" - That was so cringey he may as well have winked at the camera.
I love Mike!
Having a job can pay your bills, having a career more so, but if you love whatever it is you do...you hit the lotto!
Why do they keep cutting Mike off in conversation.
I'm an electrician in North Carolina. We have 12,600 licensed electricians in our state. Out of that I am one of 130 that are under 35 years old. The average age for a licensed electrician is 58 years old in North Carolina.
when the guy in jeans is the smartest man at the table
Those of us that work with our hands are a lot smarter than those like politicians and the media that work with their mouths (and keyboards) often give us credit for. I turned down a scholarship to Vanderbilt and have instead done very very well as a contractor.
you cant bring back jobs without getting ceos to stop paying themselves more
German Alvizo CEOs don't determine there pay, shareholders do.
Actually I believe the Board of Directors approves compensation for CEO's at most companies, and this is little more than a rubber stamp. Can't wait til outsourcing reaches executive level positions... ;)
then we look at the people trump is putting in office... rip America being a semi-okay place
NBC more news like this would be awesome. There was no trash talk and was calm and true. Mike Rowe is a good man.
I would just like to say it is because of Mike Rowe and his message that I have the work I do now. I am very grateful for his insight and counsel.
Mike Rowe doesn't have to worry about money and he is not a champion of labor-champions fought and died to have labor unions.
This is not the 1900s and they are not here to represent us anymore. Shove off.
noone can look out for the working class better than a billionaire, born a millionaire, who has never done a days honest work in his life. he treated the working class so well when he screwed small business owners out of their contracts in Atlantic city.
And yet is still closer to the working class than the career politicians who have been in DC for the past 8+ years.
No he's not he just fooled a lot of people into thinking he is. Just look at his cabinet picks all a bunch of wall street cronies and big business men just as removed from the working class as all of those career politicians in DC. Fact is if you want a good job go get it, Trump, Hillary, Obama all of them can't help you in the way you think they can.
It's nice to hear intelligent conversations
Mike is the man! He and President Trump are the kind of hard working folks that will Make America Great Again.
TheFew TheProud troll?
Mike makes a lot of sense no matter what your political ideology, and he does so in the most articulate yet affable way. Imagine what we could achieve if all politicians, legislators and policy makers were like him.
Great conversation. Learnt something from the positive interactions and various perspectives. Thanks.
I remember back when I worked in a plant nursery and was a waitress. I really really enjoyed both of those jobs, much more than sitting around doing some abstract thing He hits the nail on the head.. people like to do a job to completion. That's the key.
I think someone like Mike Rowe should be president. Someone that understands what it's like in a hard-working middle to low class job. He's intelligent, kind and doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. I just think it would be a nice change to have someone like Mike Rowe in office.
Mike is such a good guy. Why can't we get someone like him in office instead of not jobs constantly. Christ. This world would finally have the potential to be a decent again.
Seems like too short of an interview with Mike Rowe. I'm guessing they want to stuff more lies down our throats.
Mike Rowe is The Untouchable One. Noone can get him off his game. There are few such as him afore, now or ever will be.
None of them actually get Mike Rowe.
"This is a dirty job sometimes..." "...different kind of dirt!."
-NBC news host 2016
Hmm. Fake news admission?
Fantastic exchange with Meet the Press and Mike Rowe. It sounds like we don't have the answer yet in regards to how to change our thinking about preparing for the work force but we are clearly seeing the problem and asking the right questions.
For a second it was almost like Chuck Todd was an actual journalist.
The working class under the Trump administration isn’t forgotten anymore. Trump was thinking about us the whole time he was signing the tax give away to his rich buddies. With friends like Trump who needs enemies!!!
Mike Rowe is an all American guy! thanks Mike you are an inspiration.
What, IMO, Mike didn't ( admittedly ) completely express, ( and none of the "suits" around him got ) is "job satisfaction" for most Americans isn't linked to some white-collar fantasy of what satisfies most Americans. Its about doing a task that engages both mind and body while delivering a living wage. If it offers chance for advancement, that's a bonus. If it offers the opportunity to strike out on your own, that's a double bonus ! Not to put words in Mr. Rowe's mouth, but what he's pushing is anyone can climb that ladder of success using acquired trade and manual skills essential to our society we all aspire to ! IOW, its nice to be able to design a bridge, but a lot of individuals - with a panoply of skills and experience - have to exist to complete it !
Mike Rowe for President.
I never wanted to go through more school BS(my term), therefore, once I graduated, I decided to work wherever my feet and circumstance lead me. My 1st job was at a carwash (the things people leave/have in their cars?!), then a bank teller, then a marine/boat mechanic. You get the trend - I worked all types of jobs and enjoyed aspects of each and every one. I'm a retired air traffic controller that enjoys volunteering to tutor English and Math, as well as teaching auto mechanics to local kids in an after school program. Never had a need for a college degree.
I will watch any video featuring Mike Rowe!
No one ever mentions the obvious benefits of automating jobs: lower prices.
Exactly, if automation REALLY killed jobs, then no one would be working today.
Bullet Craft First of all, if you don't have a job, lower prices are especially important.
This really is Economics 101. Lower prices mean consumers have more money in their pocket, which they'll spend on things they previously couldn't afford, which creates more jobs. This benefit is obviously much harder to quantify than the number of jobs lost. You can't really predict where each worker will end up or even what new types of jobs will be created, but that doesn't mean they'll never find a job. Jobs lost to automation are not the same as jobs lost to recession, even though it might feel the same on a local scale.
Imagine if farming had never been mechanized and was still labor-intensive. Would we be more or less wealthy today?
Retaining jobs that could be automated is essentially welfare. How is that good for the economy? It's also patronizing and condescending. "Oh, those simple workers will never be able to do anything else, so let's keep them busy doing a job a robot can do."
Mike's point was that people are focused on industries with little opportunity instead of following opportunities. Doesn't that also apply to those who want to cling to jobs that are going away instead of pursuing industries with available jobs?
Economics, at its core, isn't about jobs or money. It's about "stuff". A strong economy is one that efficiently provides the most stuff to people. If everything was automated, that would be great. We wouldn't have to work to acquire anything and would have a life of leisure.
Bullet Craft
Automation makes better things cheaper and greater productivity creates MORE jobs. Ask yourself, should we use backhoes in construction, or hire 20 men with shovels to do the same job in 10 times the time and cost? That in turn makes construction contracts more expensive and so there will be less of them, ergo less jobs in the long run. And if you think we should hire 20 men with shovels, then why not 100 men with soup spoons to dig with instead? With greater productivity comes greater opportunity.
Curtis Densmore and the few people at the top, the owners of all of that automation, would just give away all of their products so the rest of us don't have to work?
LucisFerre1 Automation will create new jobs as a sure bet, but you cannot make a definitive statement like, "it will create MORE jobs." And you definitely cannot say it will create MORE jobs with decent wages, because you don't know.
Best thing I've seen on NBC in years.
Take it from a former reporter nowadays enjoying his final decades as a partially disabled woodworking artist specializing in a rare artform, the building of all hand-made Nativity Creches made in the United States . . . and I was a political junkie reporter, no less, nothing beats the inner heartfelt satisfaction of seeing a pile of scraps become a work of art. And nothing makes me feel more regretful some days in remembering how often I used to enjoy taking somebody down to a pile of scraps. Yes, prideful people who are continually making life for people who work with their hands more difficult and less financially rewarding, much less significant, should be taken down a few notches. But just with a touch of sanding here n' there. This alone is enough reason to praise the efforts of men like Mike Rowe who more than holds his own with the big shots and the ever immaculately clean fingernails.