I worked construction in US (illegally). It’s not hard work. Boring but not hard. It’s not like agriculture where Americans show up and resign after one day. We had couple of Americans hired with us for legal reason and the main issue was that they sucked. They would finish some union training course and know some basic bricklaying for example but were unable to solve any issues when needed. They were like simple robots: able to follow simple instructions but unable to improvise. The guys from Eastern Europe and South America were used to figuring things out on the spot.
It’s different where it comes to more specialized professions like electricians or plumbers. I saw Americans doing this independently. When it comes to entry level jobs they sucked.
Construction workers (mostly immigrants) work super hard, and it’s not easy work. People destroy their bodies after working construction for several years. It’s literally called “hard labor.”
If you found it easy, that’s cool. But it’s pretty absurd to suggest that’s always the case.
The hardest thing I did was demolishing and old building. A lot of dust and rusty nails. I was careful and lucky enough no to hurt myself but some people did cut themselves or stepped on a nail. It took us couple of weeks to demolish the entire building. After that the construction itself was easy. It’s just 2x4 and pneumatic nail guns. When we were bricklaying I would have to carry the bricks for 1-2h a day. The rest of the day was filled with easier tasks. There was a forklift on site to move heavy things, concrete was pumped. There was nothing backbreaking. I worked at union sites and private projects. The days were long but it wasn’t that hard.
What’s your experience? What types of projects did you work on? What did you find the most difficult?
I worked construction in US (illegally). It’s not hard work. Boring but not hard. It’s not like agriculture where Americans show up and resign after one day. We had couple of Americans hired with us for legal reason and the main issue was that they sucked. They would finish some union training course and know some basic bricklaying for example but were unable to solve any issues when needed. They were like simple robots: able to follow simple instructions but unable to improvise. The guys from Eastern Europe and South America were used to figuring things out on the spot.
It’s different where it comes to more specialized professions like electricians or plumbers. I saw Americans doing this independently. When it comes to entry level jobs they sucked.
Construction workers (mostly immigrants) work super hard, and it’s not easy work. People destroy their bodies after working construction for several years. It’s literally called “hard labor.”
If you found it easy, that’s cool. But it’s pretty absurd to suggest that’s always the case.
The hardest thing I did was demolishing and old building. A lot of dust and rusty nails. I was careful and lucky enough no to hurt myself but some people did cut themselves or stepped on a nail. It took us couple of weeks to demolish the entire building. After that the construction itself was easy. It’s just 2x4 and pneumatic nail guns. When we were bricklaying I would have to carry the bricks for 1-2h a day. The rest of the day was filled with easier tasks. There was a forklift on site to move heavy things, concrete was pumped. There was nothing backbreaking. I worked at union sites and private projects. The days were long but it wasn’t that hard.
What’s your experience? What types of projects did you work on? What did you find the most difficult?
I don’t do the work personally, just witness it very often, so I’m only going by second hand info.
I’m sure it varies wildly by the type of job.
Well, I will keep my first hand opinion about it then.