Yes, there are very few young ones interested in earning a good living in the trades, both union and non union.
It's been this way for some time, and it looks like it's not about to change. And there are a lot of "Help Wanted" signs on the ground, and on the trucks, for all trades. Heck Fedex and UPS are offering $16 to $22 hr. and have a tough time. The Fedex Center near the Municipal Bldg. here is bussing in 2 charter busses a day from NYC.
There are a few resi contractors that use the technique you describe here Greg, and they bang out a new SFD rough and service in a day or two. They do a compliant install for the most part, and if there are any issues, someone is on site to make the corrections quickly. Their ethnic makeup is Latino, Asian (Chinese, Korean. etc)
We have a 17 building, (mix of 10 and 21) units apt complex going up, they use the same technique, and that crew is Slavic.
