Anyone else think that a shrinking US population is a good thing?

[odanny]

I don't know, I had my go-to plumbers come out and drain/flush my water heater and install two new elements. $300.00. True, $200 of it was labor but I was OK with it.

That’s a good deal, I paid $475 to do my tankless, but it was a one and done job, because now I know how to do it and just need to buy the hoses, transfer pump and solution so I can do it next time. I know I overpaid but won’t pay for it again.

Developed countries see population decline, third world countries see population increase, run out of resources and move to developed countries. Cycle then repeats.

 

[JohnDB]

I don't know, I had my go-to plumbers come out and drain/flush my water heater and install two new elements. $300.00. True, $200 of it was labor but I was OK with it.

What I am finding these days in my AO is many of the old Mom & Pop Contractors have sold out to national chains. My HVAC guy sold out to a national chain.

The good thing is he will still do HVAC work for his old customers.....I just call him at home.

I have been a construction worker...big jobs and little.
You have a relationship with a few contractors....IOW you know somebody.

That is NOT going to work for most people.

I've been retired for 6 years. My phone STILL buzzes and rings with jobs almost every day. And I am not so old to know that I was one of the few that had apprentices working for me. There DEFINITELY was not enough to go around. Apprentices are ALWAYS hired first on a job. (Cheap grunt labor) I could handle up to 5 apprentices just as a journeyman. If I was foreman I could handle 5 Journeyman....a total of 30 guys. But that's not how things work anymore. I'll have a crew of 24-26 people of varying skill levels and have to get to stepping to keep up with all of them and assign them tasks and tell them how to do it. About 15mn for each two man team or single person and then on to the next. Just so I could see everyone 2 times a day.