Hey guys just reading over some of these posts. I've been in the industry for 10 years. I was a navy electrician and transitioned into the elevator trade after a short period as a maintenance electrician at a plant. I took a pay cut to get into the trade and moved 4 hours away from my wife and children to Austin local 133. I crashed on my buddie's couch and only saw my family on the weekends. I did this for my whole 6 month probationary period, then sold my brand new house and moved the family into a small 1 bedroom apartment in a not so nice complex. After 1 year with Tejas elevator I was laid off. I had to again move this time to California to go to work for Thyssenn, again leaving my family back in Austin. I went another 6 months without seeing them. After moving them out to California I got set-up as a temporary mechanic and never looked back. I went from making $14/hr to $48/hr in a matter of 3 years. Now I am a troubleshooter loving every minute of this crazy trade.

The point of my post is this. Keep your head up and keep striving for your goal of becoming an elevator mechanic. Sometimes in this trade if you want to keep working you have to be flexible. There are tons of old timers getting their retirement papers ready, so the work will be there. Don't let the layoffs get you down. You're on the list and your name will be called, remember though if you turn the offer down you might not get called again. Answer the call future brothers. God bless.