No miracles are needed to resolve the labor shortage in our industry.
We may never have one of those imaginary vehicles they used in that 1985 movie to go back in time and visit the childhood years of our parents. Fortunately, many young Americans can still share those early experiences with living grandparents, parents or their friends and acquaintances. Some of today's youth do not have that opportunity. But what is really tragic are the young people who do have access to such memories, yet fail to ask questions, talk or listen.
In November's column we looked at the Engineering News Record article, "No Fix for Craft Labor Shortage." Ask some of your older friends what kind of "fix" they created to survive the Depression, World War II, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War, along with several recessions. In addition to all these national crises, each individual was challenged with personal setbacks and failures. They did not wait for miracles -- they did what they had to do to survive.