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Vancouver Off-Topic / Current EventsThe off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.
Lol. They used to. When Canada was just a wee little country BMO printed all the canadian currency. It was only in the 1950's that BoC took over the duty.
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Originally Posted by quasi
Spoiler!
I personally only look at work in the lower mainland but the company I work for had offices in Regina, Calgary, Kelowna, Victoria and Vancouver at the time so we were doing work all over western Canada.
No, the hourly wages never really dropped for guys already employed but for new hires during that period it did though because there were a lot of unemployed guys in our trade after the Olympics and certainly for the piece work rates it did. When I'm talking about bidding rates I'm referring to what we were charging, trying to keep guys busy and taking work at cost or even below cost to not lose good guys because at the time you literally couldn't buy a job, again not always a direct correlation between pricing (what we're bidding) and wages, especially in that market but wages certainly were not moving upwards.
Like I said there really hadn't been much movement in wages in years out in the field until the last year or so, two years ago the starting wage wasn't much more than it was 10 years ago. The piece work rates tell you a lot about the movement of wages but again they don't move exactly at the same as rates for hourly guys.
I agree with you on where the wages are today, we're seeing the same thing, you're not finding anyone with experience for under $40 an hour and it goes up from there.
Yeah buying jobs by bidding with no margin on top of your labour does happen. Like you say you want to keep guys busy during lull seasons or valleys in the industry. We move around and have enough work that this isn't necessary usually. Also eventually you just get used to it, when your coming to the close of a project with 700 people on payroll, its obvious unless you have another 60+ million dollar contract firing right up, most of those people are getting laid off. In industrial that's just normal.
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Originally Posted by GGnoRE
300k as a plumber? That's got to be like top 1-3%? If we are comparing top percentile to top percentile, one could say getting an arts degree could make you millions by becoming a c-suite executive... All sources that I can find says that average salary for a plumber is like ~60-80k. Obviously better than a barista but far from 300k.
Everyone is really hung up on plumbing because I used that as a trade example. Yes i'm sure if you just go work at fucking roto rooter your probably going to only make $80k as a CJM plumber. The ceiling is way higher, and no it's not just the top 1% of plumbers who make that type of money.
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Originally Posted by unit
yeah plumbers don't make that kind of money. if you had your own company you can't just work at a job site for 40 hours a week. from what i've seen plumbers are juggling jobs non stop and they will show up to a job for maybe a day at a time, then fuck off to who knows where for a week, then after non stop calls to get them to finish the job you have to hire another plumber.
Okay, first off yes they do. You go hire a plumber to come to your house and tell me how much he charges you. Lol.
I'll stop with the indirect examples, and give you a direct example. I have a rig welder currently employed. He owns his own truck, the typical 6" lifted Diesel powered Douche Sled. He's got a 10000 dollar Lincoln in the back, and probably another 10 or 15k in tools on board. He gets $135 an hour, and paid $150 bucks a day for his rig. He works 12 hours a day, on a 20 days on-10 days off rotation. Occasionally he works a few hours of OT here and there. His OT rate is $185/hour.
Today happens to be payday. This year to date i've paid him $258,000.
I've got 16 other Rigs on payroll. These guys aren't the top 1%. Their just average rig welders. Exact same pay structure you are looking at for the guys working on the transmountain pipeline which probably employs 1000 or more of them right now.
You guys can close your eyes to it all you want. The average tradesmen if he wants to work, has a higher earning ceiling than your average university graduate who leaves university having no clue what they want to do.
And maybe West is right, it's because it structures you into a role, but how is that any different then going to work for Translink or whatever which everyone on here likes to recommend to people.
I'll stop with the indirect examples, and give you a direct example. I have a rig welder currently employed. He owns his own truck, the typical 6" lifted Diesel powered Douche Sled. He's got a 10000 dollar Lincoln in the back, and probably another 10 or 15k in tools on board. He gets $135 an hour, and paid $150 bucks a day for his rig. He works 12 hours a day, on a 20 days on-10 days off rotation. Occasionally he works a few hours of OT here and there. His OT rate is $185/hour.
Today happens to be payday. This year to date i've paid him $258,000.
I've got 16 other Rigs on payroll. These guys aren't the top 1%. Their just average rig welders. Exact same pay structure you are looking at for the guys working on the transmountain pipeline which probably employs 1000 or more of them right now.
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Back when I was like 15 - 16, I messaged the jasonturbo dude on revscene with the NSX/S2K/M3's asking what he did for guidance on my future. I recall dreaming about having nice cars like him one day. He mentioned he was a welder and listed an entire essay of how to easily get to where he was. He mentioned I could clear $150 - 250K+ back in 2011 lol. That money invested must be treating him good now.
I agree with meme405, that average trades person has a higher average ceiling compared to the professional workers. Most of the professional folks cap at $80 - 120K for most of their life with the ambitious one's fighting for the $120 - 150K+ roles. If you look up director positions on indeed in Vancouver there's less than 29 positions and some of them include VP/C-Suite roles.
Trades you have to be aware of the long-term damage to your body, you could argue well office jobs damage your body too. Yes but not to the extent as trades.
Let's be real, Vancouver has a large population of Asians who in their society trades & driving trucks are viewed as low quality. You can dangle all the potential earnings in trades in front of them and they'll still line up to work at the big 4 accounting firm for $38k starting.
So who is gonna make the jobs discussion thread....
already in the car sale job advice thread
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Originally Posted by Gerbs
I agree with meme405, that average trades person has a higher average ceiling compared to the professional workers. Most of the professional folks cap at $80 - 120K for most of their life with the ambitious one's fighting for the $120 - 150K+ roles. If you look up director positions on indeed in Vancouver there's less than 29 positions and some of them include VP/C-Suite roles.
i would also say said professionals (myself included) to get there, can take 10 years of grinding/working in the sweat shop, vs a young tradesperson with their ticket and make good money early on.
@noclue - true, but if you have acumen/ambition, you can easily transition in to the office as an estimator/PM, or become a foreman/site super - less strenuous on the body.
On the note of PM, I've been browsing PM jobs for the last year. It's very difficult to find a PM job that is NOT construction related. Construction PM is HOT.
(And before someone mentions it, yes, I know that you can use negative keywords in job searches. You can also use it on CL, Autotrader, but I don't rmb if negative keywords work on REW)
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lower mainland experience, and also experienced post olympics rut... it was rough for a few years. only 'busy-ness' felt like existing large projects or infrastructure.
commercial and even resi was tight. also loss of employees as well as meme stated, they moved to where the work was abundant as was the pay, such as oil fields back then (before they went kaput).
still happy i made the switch to construction from tech overall though, was way more stable and easier to start a family/get a home, etc.
and wtf is with pho places i see a bowl or plate for $15-17 wtf it's same as gourmet ramen now.
LOL gourmet Ramen is even more than that. Santouka as an example is over $18 I've even seen some places around like $22. You add tax and a tip looking at $25 - $30 for a bowl of Ramen, crazy!
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On the note of PM, I've been browsing PM jobs for the last year. It's very difficult to find a PM job that is NOT construction related. Construction PM is HOT.
(And before someone mentions it, yes, I know that you can use negative keywords in job searches. You can also use it on CL, Autotrader, but I don't rmb if negative keywords work on REW)
Are you just wanting to avoid building construction, or any kind of construction? The company I work for is looking for an EPC PM for industrial food & beverage type stuff. It's a remote job with some travel in Canada and maybe the US. The office is in Calgary but I've never been there lol.
__________________ 1991 Toyota Celica GTFour RC // 2007 Toyota Rav4 V6 // 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1992 Toyota Celica GT-S ["sold"] \\ 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD [sold] \\ 2000 Jeep Cherokee [sold] \\ 1997 Honda Prelude [sold] \\ 1992 Jeep YJ [sold/crashed] \\ 1987 Mazda RX-7 [sold] \\ 1987 Toyota Celica GT-S [crushed]
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Originally Posted by maksimizer
half those dudes are hotter than ,my GF.
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Originally Posted by RevYouUp
reading this thread is like waiting for goku to charge up a spirit bomb in dragon ball z
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Originally Posted by Good_KarMa
OH thank god. I thought u had sex with my wife. :cry:
I have to renew my mortgage in January. I assume im screwed with theses new interest rates. What are my best options? Sign a 1 or 2 year mortgage and hopefully interest rates drops when it comes for renewal again?
TIA and sorry if this question has been answered many times.
Let's be real, Vancouver has a large population of Asians who in their society trades & driving trucks are viewed as low quality. You can dangle all the potential earnings in trades in front of them and they'll still line up to work at the big 4 accounting firm for $38k starting.
That felt targeted
My friends parent who are successful in building SFH make close to $250 - 500K Gross if you consider how many cash jobs they do in a year. They're like damn, there's no reason to put in any work anymore when your parent makes more than your 2 siblings combined.
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Originally Posted by noclue
Trades you have to be aware of the long-term damage to your body, you could argue well office jobs damage your body too. Yes but not to the extent as trades.
I think the biggest pro's of professional jobs in the modern era is that you can WFH. As long as you're valuable and have a lot to offer most jobs will let you WFH. I probably save close to $5,000 - 7,500 gross in gas, business clothing, work events, lunches & snacks that you occasionally buy, commute time. I don't think I'd ever leave WFH without getting paid at least $15 - 20K more and then they'd have to be at least 2 - 4 days hybrid. Can step out to the local range, grab groceries, gym, make heathier and cheaper lunches than buying. Feels like energy is 10x higher.
Okay, first off yes they do. You go hire a plumber to come to your house and tell me how much he charges you. Lol.
Anywhere from $100-160/hour.
Having said that, the plumber themselves would only get about a third of that. So realistic average annual income of a plumber in Vancouver is $60-100k/year. It really depends on the company your work for and the skill level of the tradesperson.
I'm not saying it's impossible to to make $300k a year in the plumbing or any trade for that matter, but you're not going to be doing that by working for someone, and you're definitely going to be ruthless in billing and charging as much as possible/nickel and diming the customer (ie truck charges, shop supply charges, fuel surplus charge, charging WAY MORE on materials than you should, charging of equipment usage, etc). And to top it off, I don't think it's even possible to work less than 55-60hours/week to run a successful small/self-employed business, especially in trades.
I think the outlier to this would be plumbing companies/plumber that do more "specialized"/labour intensive/essential work such as trenchless water service line replacement, perimeter drainage or underground sanitary pipes. Imagine the sanitary building sewage line breaking in the front yard and actual shit/sewage seeping up into your front yard and sewage backing up from your basement toilet/shower. You don't have much of a choice but to hand over $15,000 for 4 days of work. These companies wouldn't bother showing up for less that $2500/day
I've got a buddy who's an electrician and a past client who's a plumber. Both are self employed and both clear $150k. What most people don't know is they are both on call 24/7. Odd random working hours and never takes holidays, let alone a day off. My electrician buddy after 10 years of running his own business quit and became a consultant and does electrical diagrams WFH.
Honestly thinking about starting a handyman business. I can fix pretty much anything I can do mid-high level finishing etc. my wife’s grandmas house had a leak and she contacted like 6-7 people. Only 1 person got back to her who was a gutter guy. Climbed on the roof said your roof is fucked, cya.
You literally can’t even get people so I finally said fuck it, I’ll do it. Got heatstroke from being on a fucking roof yesterday but in about 4 hours I did what someone would charge $2500+ for (a new roof for this roof might be 10k) but you can’t even get a roofer.
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I think the biggest pro's of professional jobs in the modern era is that you can WFH. As long as you're valuable and have a lot to offer most jobs will let you WFH. I probably save close to $5,000 - 7,500 gross in gas, business clothing, work events, lunches & snacks that you occasionally buy, commute time. I don't think I'd ever leave WFH without getting paid at least $15 - 20K more and then they'd have to be at least 2 - 4 days hybrid. Can step out to the local range, grab groceries, gym, make heathier and cheaper lunches than buying. Feels like energy is 10x higher.
What's wild in the tech space is that you can usually make more money if you are willing to WFH/Remote b/c American companies are now part of the market and they pay more than local companies. Tech workers who work in the office usually end up making less rather than more.
Honestly thinking about starting a handyman business. I can fix pretty much anything I can do mid-high level finishing etc. my wife’s grandmas house had a leak and she contacted like 6-7 people. Only 1 person got back to her who was a gutter guy. Climbed on the roof said your roof is fucked, cya.
You literally can’t even get people so I finally said fuck it, I’ll do it. Got heatstroke from being on a fucking roof yesterday but in about 4 hours I did what someone would charge $2500+ for (a new roof for this roof might be 10k) but you can’t even get a roofer.
Huge demand for handyman type services right now. You just got to be willing to but in the hours.
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Dont forget to factor in the kickbacks that have to come out of your pocket to land larger jobs/contracts. Those envelopes of cash, gift cards and expensive dinners add up. The RE industry whether selling, managing, servicing or developing is so damn dirty in this city
Honestly I’d probably say cash deals and sign a waiver on liability.
I’m not shady at all I’d literally say here’s what everything is going to cost, here’s what I’m going to do, and this or that may happen but regardless I’m $70 an hour.
Don’t want it, perfect, good luck
Honestly even if I had to get a business licence etc. it seems like the demand is so high you could almost charge whatever you want. The problem is things accelerate then you’re bordering on a contractor
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Dank memes cant melt steel beams
You literally can’t even get people so I finally said fuck it, I’ll do it. Got heatstroke from being on a fucking roof yesterday but in about 4 hours I did what someone would charge $2500+ for (a new roof for this roof might be 10k) but you can’t even get a roofer.
but all you did was make the hole bigger and neater
If you really did get heatstroke, watch that shit. It can hit you a few days after the exposure, and can be quite dangerous.
Yea think I was bordering on it, just been chilling last couple days since. Went home and my face was beat red but wasn’t sun burnt just over heated. Felt like 40 deg on that roof.
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Dank memes cant melt steel beams
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