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00:00:01
Words actually have meaning
6 Plays7 days ago
Descriptions for the stats we use!
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Transcript
Interpreting Statistics in Skilled Trades
00:00:01
Baker Plbg
Okay, I looked it up. ah It's super confusing. And that's the that's always the challenge with statistics is you never really know what they're driving at and how they're interpreting the data.
00:00:15
Baker Plbg
And so you can look up that report that I've been talking about, um whatever it is, the census report on the skilled trades, right?
00:00:26
Baker Plbg
The demographics of skilled trades for us in Canada. um And that's where all these numbers are coming from. They say certified
Certificates vs. Licenses in Skilled Trades
00:00:36
Baker Plbg
plumbers. And so I looked up the definition of sort of what a certificate is.
00:00:41
Baker Plbg
And a certificate is a shorter, focused credential for specialized skills. And so that is different from being licensed.
00:00:54
Baker Plbg
A license is an official authorization to practice a profession granted by a governing body, which is what the Red Seal is. Which I find what clued me into that is they don't use, they say Red Seal trades all through the ah through the report, but they don't use that as the descriptor 16,700 and And diploma.
00:01:18
Baker Plbg
women in it and so and then i looked up diploma which is different than a degree and a diploma takes longer is more comprehensive academic award for a broader subject area.
00:01:32
Baker Plbg
So that I have a license to practice plumbing, heating, and gas fitting. And that's because I've done what the governing body as requested so that I can practice my profession.
00:01:46
Baker Plbg
I do have certificates. I have my cross connection control certificate. I have my confined space so certificate. I have my H2S certificate and all in on and on and on and on. I have my septic uh, field installer and designer certificate, all those things, you know, basically took a weekend or a couple of weekends or whatever the case may be, you know, six weekends in a row to get your certificate.
Concerns About Certification Programs
00:02:15
Baker Plbg
And what the government is doing, how they're going to solve the labor shortage is they, you saw that post, I posted and they're doing it in Ontario. Um,
00:02:27
Baker Plbg
where you can take a six week course to become certified in HVAC. I don't even know what that means. um And neither do they. You're gonna walk out of that course knowing what a black 90 is, what a copper fitting is, and maybe what BTUs mean.
00:02:47
Baker Plbg
Maybe, maybe. And you're gonna let these people work with gas which is frankly the most dangerous thing you can. And I don't know how insurance companies are going to take that.
00:02:58
Baker Plbg
I pay an extra premium so that I can work on propane. I pay an extra premium to have my gas ticket and we reevaluate how much gas work I did every year with my insurance agent ah to make sure that I'm fully covered for doing the stuff that I do.
00:03:18
Baker Plbg
There is no way that an insurance company is going to insure someone with an HVAC certificate um to do that type of work. So it's super, I think it's i think it's crazy. i I think they are trying to dumb it down. I think they're using the words. I mean, the words that we and we say mean things.
00:03:41
Baker Plbg
When you say I'm a business owner, I can back it up and say I'm a business owner. When I say I'm a licensed plumber, I can show you my licenses. I can show you the certificates I have.
00:03:52
Baker Plbg
ah i can yeah If I say I'm a bad guy, i can prove it. and so And you ought to be able to as well. A certificate doesn't mean crap.
00:04:04
Baker Plbg
um It's basically, as far as I can tell, pre-employment.
Economic Implications of Certification Programs
00:04:08
Baker Plbg
That's what they're doing with it is, okay, well, you have the absolute, I don't want to say basics because you don't.
00:04:17
Baker Plbg
You have like an introductory knowledge. I mean, if you if you're an English professor and you tell your students to read Shakespeare and they read Midsummer's Night Dream, are they now experts in Shakespeare? No, they're not at all. They have no idea what they just read.
00:04:36
Baker Plbg
And that's what I'm equating that to is you're trying to tell someone that they have an HVAC certificate and they're going to go and they're guaranteeing placement. You know why they're guaranteeing placement at $36 an hour? Because the government is paying the companies half of that. I guarantee it. I don't know.
00:04:52
Baker Plbg
haven't dug into that, but that's how that works is that they are. They're fixing the whole game. Okay, well, here, Bob, hire these three dudes for $36 an hour. I will pay you $18 an hour to hire these guys, and they're going to come to you with certificates.
00:05:10
Baker Plbg
Who can
Safety Risks with Underqualified Workers
00:05:11
Baker Plbg
I send those guys to? I'm going to send them one of these big boilers? Are you kidding me? They'll kill people.
00:05:17
Baker Plbg
What do we do about it?
00:05:20
Baker Plbg
That's the question. I don't know what we do about it. um But... I mean, there's so many grifters out there. That guy ah that's advertising that he's offering this course, how much money is he making?
00:05:35
Baker Plbg
He ain't doing it for free. He ain't it of the goodness of his heart. I can tell you that
Closing Thoughts and Audience Engagement
00:05:38
Baker Plbg
right now. Oh, by the way, how do you like my new Mad Max? Freaking awesome. Anyway, my thoughts, not yours.
00:05:47
Baker Plbg
Good luck out there, everybody. It's a mad world. i wish you luck in it. And ah listen, put it in the comments. What do you think? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I think it's a terrible thing.
00:05:58
Baker Plbg
That's it.