On Sat, 14 May 2005 16:03:11 -0700, Ron Wanttaja
wrote:

On 14 May 2005 15:25:55 -0700, "Flyingmonk" wrote:

Thanks Ron. How's space craft doing?

What, have you been reading CBD again? :-)

It's OK where I'm at, looking better all the time.

The scariest thing happened this week. We'd been discussing with our management
about the "graying" of the aerospace workforce, and how we need to get some
young engineers and new hires into the industry to pick up some experience from
the old hands. We've even been flagging spots on org charts for "eager young
space cadets" to be formally recruited if we win a production contract.

Anyway, me and one of my buddies interviewed one this week.

Gawd. Were we *ever* that young? Did we ever have that much energy? That
clear of eye, that narrow of waist?

I kept thinking about the old farts that were with the organization when *I*
started...and realized most of them are dead, now.

Geeze.

Ron Wanttaja

Ron,

I know exactly what you're talking about. About 5 years ago
I was talking to my boss and pointed out to her that
everyone of the crew chiefs and several of the most
experienced workers would be retiring within 5 years. The
youngest worker in our section was 41 years old and the
oldest was 84.

It takes three years of study and OJT to learn even the
basics of Metering.

When I left a little over a year ago, they had just taken on
10 apprentices and we had only 23 journeylevel workers to
teach them. Not a good situation since the apprentices get
very little vacation and the high time workers get up to 30
days of vacation a year. Since you can assign only one
apprentice to a journeylevel worker and not all journey
workers are suitable to teach.... I'm glad I'm gone from
there now. It's become a madhouse. I was asked to come
back and teach a night class but living 2 hours and a ferry
ride away it's not what I want...

John