Gen Z kid at the parts counter changed my mind about union apprenticeships

I was grabbing a new disconnect switch at Platt in Austin last Tuesday and this 19 year old apprentice was arguing with his foreman on the phone about using rigid instead of EMT for a outdoor run. Foreman was pissed but the kid was right about the moisture rating and he held his ground without being disrespectful. It got me thinking about how these younger kids actually understand code better than half the old heads I know because they study for their test instead of just going off what they were shown 20 years ago. Has anyone else noticed the new generation being weirdly good at catching code violations that seasoned guys miss?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_angela20d ago

Damn, I used to roll my eyes at young apprentices but this actually makes sense.

evan_campbell20d ago

wait they actually let you apprentice under that old method where you shadow for like a year before touching anything serious? @the_angela i always thought that was just some romanticized version of trades from way back. hearing those numbers about failure rates dropping 40% is wild though. makes me wonder how many projects i accidentally screwed up early on because nobody walked me through the basics first.