I agree with you Mike. My point was actually quite simple, it just became convoluded in my post. If you want to work for a good employer who gives you the things that you want (good pay, benefits, 401k, etc) what are you going to bring to the table and give the employer?
Remember, no employer out there (i don't care how big) can afford to give you anything. Everything they do give you is based on what you generate for them. Without you generating revenue, they can't pay their bills. Simple as that.
Employers can only give you a chance to earn those items that you want. Simply a conduit.
And as for lawyers, you can be sued for anything. Simple fact is, if we have voluntary training every week. Five guys come, 5 guys don't.
The five that come, presumably will become better at what they do for us. (sales, installations, troubleshooting, learn new techniques, code review, learn Data, etc)
The 5 that don't continue doing what they are doing, and not learning anything new. They move to the bottom of the ladder.
And yes, if we slow down, they may be the first to go. Not because they didn't show up to the training, but because they are becoming obsolete in the industry.
Now, if one of those 5 go to a different training source and continues to grow, he's not going anywhere. He's continuing to make himself valuable to me. I don't care if he comes to the shop training or not.
So, it's not about the employee giving anything. It's about the employee bettering himself to help the company grow. To offer more opportunities to the employee. It's a full circle.
If i am a 2-3 man shop, I might not be able to afford to pay everyone to come in for a couple of hours a month. But if they come in and I can teach them new things. We can get into new niches and grow the company. Then they will have more opportunities within the company (management, etc) And eventually, we can probably get to a fully paid in-house apprenticeship.
But I can tell you this - the union apprenticeship requires shooling several nights a week. The apprentices are not paid for it.
How does a company go from a 1 man shop to a 100 man shop? By finding employees who can see the vision, have the qualifications needed and understand that they are going to be a big part of the larger company. So they give to get. They help the company grow.
That's all i'm getting at.
