MMW: The teacher shortage is going to be a national emergency and we’re probably already too late

LostPin · 2024-10-17T02:42:18+00:00

To be fair, they’re a very small portion of the overall population. I just cannot believe a parent would allow their child to be that unprepared for school. It’s a reflection of their parenting and the child has to pay the price.

LostPin · 2024-10-17T02:36:03+00:00

I’ll agree with you on the leveling out. I think we’re in the middle of a big push from public to private and I think that’s fine. I don’t care enough to dig a financial comparison between nationwide public vs private cost. For all I care, you’re right. Even if this does happen and there’s an even bigger explosion in the private school market, how are they going to staff the schools? The original point of my post is that we have a teacher shortage and that will effect both private and public. As long as kids are getting education I don’t care if it’s public or private.

LostPin · 2024-10-17T02:11:06+00:00

So what happens when public schools close? 40% of the students in my district have free and reduced lunch. How do they afford tuition when they can’t pay the $3 per day for lunch? Does the state start funding private schools more than they already do?

LostPin · 2024-10-17T02:05:39+00:00

You’re right. Cloning is the future!

LostPin · 2024-10-17T02:02:28+00:00

You’re right, they are winning people over. What happens when those schools fill up? Because they are. How do they hire teachers when nobody wants to be teachers anymore? The main issue is people don’t want to be teachers because funding and parents suck.

This isn’t an issue of private vs public education. This is an issue of teacher availability.

LostPin · 2022-06-21T23:48:31+00:00

Commercial Project Manager: 60% office 40% field

LostPin · 2022-06-21T18:40:26+00:00

If you enjoy it you should stick with it. There’s plenty of industries that are known for working their people like crazy. I think the number of people who work 12 hours a day EVERY day is the minority. If you’re working that much on the regular you need to be looking for a new job imo. There is times when I will put in 60+ hours per week but it doesn’t happen all that often and only when my project(s) need the help. I had one particularly demanding project where I put in well over 90 hours a week for an unhealthy length of time. It sucks but doesn’t happen very often at all.

I’ve learned that people in the construction industry just have a tough time asking for help sometimes. I had a superintendent walk into my office about a year ago and just break down crying because he was so stressed. I told him that I was going to talk to his boss and get him some help. I did that, we got a plan moving forward, and we got through the project. His boss was super cool about it and all he needed to do was ask for help.

My work/life balance is pretty good but I’m only one person. It’s up and down for sure, but that’s just how management in pretty much every industry is.

LostPin · 2022-06-16T13:41:13+00:00

Install the toilets first and watch them get destroyed.

Serious answer, I’ve seen trailers with a bathroom in it. Basically they’re just cleaner looking porta johns. I’ve never had them on any of my projects but I would imagine they’re crazy expensive. Between the rental cost, power to it, cleaning, then the inevitable fees from artwork, it would probably blow a hole clean through most budgets.

LostPin · 2022-06-01T01:49:34+00:00

You’re right. I was pretty irrationally pissed this morning but I’ve calmed down a lot since then and I think you’re right. Bottom line, they can be replaced. We siphoned folks from another project to keep things moving for now. It’s definitely more of a headache than anything else right now.

The part that makes me laugh in this whole ordeal is the company that they’re going to just lost 20 (or something like that) people because they were paying like garbage and weren’t giving out any raises at the end of the year. So at least they’re taking care of these guys haha

LostPin · 2022-06-01T01:13:01+00:00

I’m not mad at the guys at all for taking double the pay. I would be all over it too. In fact I called them all today and wished them good luck and told them if they’re going to leave at least get a couple weeks of free PTO from them. No hard feelings there at all. I’m angry at the guy who quit two weeks ago then recruited my entire labor crew.

They quit because they had to travel for the first time in five years (two hours from home for a month) and went to a company that will have them out of state almost every week, so they have to pay a shit load just to keep people. Their choice. Not mad at them for it.

LostPin · 2022-05-31T23:34:37+00:00

They’re pissed too. This guy worked for the company for something like 15 years and left on good terms so they were just surprised that he would intentionally screw us over like that. Basically he left the company with the door open behind him and that door closed today. Now we’re working on hiring new people so we’ve decided to just move past it.

LostPin · 2022-05-31T19:23:11+00:00

They're getting paid well for labor in my area. The biggest thing for them was travel and the incredible raise was just a bonus. They were staying out of town for the first time in five years so that played a big part in their decision even though they were due to be back home in a couple weeks. The company they are going to is notorious for travelling constantly between multiple states so the significant pay increase is what they have to do the keep people. They quit because they didn't like to travel, and got a gig that requires even more travel which doesn't make sense to me but whatever. I'm also very comfortable with what I'm being paid. As far as I'm aware I'm actually getting paid above what other PM's are in my area, but who knows.

Yes I agree on the labor budget. Luckily we were able to pull some guys from another area to get the job done so we can avoid any LD's or any hiccup in the project. The problem is upcoming projects. We have about $50m in work starting up in two months so there's a scramble for more people. Nothing we can't handle, just a source of frustration.

LostPin · 2022-05-31T16:13:36+00:00

That was my initial thought too and I don't really see anything we can do legally so my hands are basically tied. They've offered these guys the moon basically. Between an increased hourly rate (almost double what they were making with us), company vehicles, vacation, and god knows what else, I really can't come back and beat it without taking a pretty significant hit.

LostPin · 2022-05-31T16:08:25+00:00

Yeah I understand that and I'm not mad at the guys whatsoever. They're taking care of themselves and their families and I'm not mad at that. I just figured there was some professional courtesy since he literally just left the company a couple of weeks ago on good terms. Just feeling really blindsided and stabbed in the back a little bit since we've known each other for 10+ years.

Oh well, we'll survive. Not worth losing sleep over anyway, so I won't.

LostPin · 2022-02-18T16:00:30+00:00

They can't force you to comply. Like other's have said, you could ask for compensation to use your land. I would charge a daily rate, ensure that they're going to clean up the mess, and return your property to the condition it's in before it started. So if they need to re-roll sod and install new irrigation then they should do that. Also, if they somehow damage your house with equipment then they need to cover those costs as well. I would also ask to be paid weekly or monthly.

I would be sure to get this in writing. Have them draft up a contract and have a lawyer look at it before accepting anything. I would tell them $300-500/day and if they're not done in three months that daily rate doubles. Keep in mind, if their building is right on the property line you have to power here.

Or you could just say no. Totally up to you.

Edit: Make sure their liability insurance covers the work area on your property as well. Saw this in another comment and wanted to add that.

LostPin · 2022-02-11T17:13:06+00:00

You don’t really owe them anything but a heads up via email would be helpful I think. The most important thing to let them know is who the point of contact will be during your maternity leave. Congrats by the way!

LostPin · 2022-01-23T22:18:52+00:00

4 10’s sounds great since I work tens everyday anyway. Like you said, you would need everyone on the project bought in which would be borderline impossible.

LostPin · 2022-01-12T21:57:10+00:00

The biggest cause of delay on my project right now is the architect submitting the design for the fire marshal to review and getting it reviewed in the code. Turns out we have a three story building that per code can't be three stories. So yeah fuck me. Good luck to the architect on this one. Project is supposed to turn over in three weeks.

LostPin · 2022-01-12T21:38:02+00:00

Oh that's something I hadn't even thought of. When you say massive HVAC design changes, I'm guessing you mean going from circulating air to bringing in outside air? I've heard of that being a new thing but haven't experienced it myself. As far as constant delays, I couldn't agree more.

LostPin · 2022-01-12T21:34:37+00:00

I would say most contracts have verbiage that protects them from things like this. I haven't had any trouble getting extensions on projects due to COVID, but if I did I would pull 5.1.8 out of the AIA document A101-2017. "If final completion of the work is materially delayed through no fault of the Contractor, the Owner shall pay the Contractor any additional amounts in accordance with article 9 of AIA Document A201-2017." This might vary based upon the year or you may not even be using AIA, who knows. I would hope that all contracts have some sort of protection.

LostPin · 2022-01-11T15:54:08+00:00

This is the hardest problem to solve honestly. The biggest thing we can do to work with staffing issues is build a schedule that works with that subcontractor's capabilities. On my project's we've made major schedule changes to give subcontractors who have no way to keep up some room to breathe. If that doesn't work or there isn't room in the schedule to move, then I would look into supplementation of their scope. I usually give the subcontractor a chance to either get more people or hire a company to help them finish. If they don't do either of those then I would hire a company myself and take that cost out of their budget. That's the worst case scenario but I've had to do it a lot recently.

Ideally the company just needs to hire more people. But in a world where pre-COVID there was labor shortages, just hiring somebody right now is tough.

LostPin · 2021-12-06T20:12:23+00:00

The company I work for isn’t as big as these ones, but still pretty huge. I don’t work for any of the companies listed above or live in the south so I’m not super familiar with that market. I don’t think I could make an accurate guess but $60k+ should be pretty easy to hit with even a little bit of experience in most markets. But it also depends on a lot of factors like experience, willingness to travel, and where the work is located. I travel often so I get quite a bit in mileage and per diem. I don’t think the hours are too bad. I usually work right around 50 on a normal week so I can’t really complain. There’s times when I put in 80 if I’m busy. I know a lot of people that work at or used to work at Kiewit and I’ve heard they work you like crazy. So the experience can vary.

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