I feel like there is a generally fraying at the edges, or being stretched thin, that everyone alive is experiencing in addition to all the factors others have listed.

One trade-specific thing I have heard is that fellow workers on a crew can also put pressure on apprentices not to go back to school and ‘leave them shorthanded’. Knock on effects from shitty employers.

I don’t know if it would be viable, or if it already exists, but I would like it to have several routes to journeyman status whether those are more education oriented or more work oriented. I would be more inclined to go if it was setup more like a university degree co-op program - 5 years with an established work-term schedule and with program assistance for placements.

Yeah, but it is about making a statement.