TIL the average age of a crane operator in the US is 55 years old

I was looking at some Bureau of Labor stats last night and saw that the median age for us is 55. That means a ton of guys are gonna retire in the next 5-10 years and there aren't enough younger operators to replace them. Do you think that's gonna drive wages up a lot or just leave jobsites struggling to find anyone to run the cranes?

3 comments

3 Comments

troyreed1mo ago

Totally agree, I've been watching the same thing happen in my line of work too.

vera3081mo ago

Are we sure this is as bad as it sounds? I've heard these doom and gloom predictions about labor shortages before and they don't always play out the way people expect. A lot of guys in their 50s might work past retirement age if the money is good enough, or companies could just invest more in training programs. Plus, automation and new crane designs might make the job easier for younger folks to pick up.

lisak2629d ago

my uncle ran a crane for 40 years and he said half the guys in the union hall right now are closer to medicare than lunch breaks. @vera308 I get why you say the doom and gloom stuff doesnt always hit, but I've watched apprentices bail after a year cause they cant handle the early mornings or the boredom between lifts. the automation thing is funny to me, like sure a computer can level a load but good luck programming it to read the site conditions and not kill someone on a windy day. training programs are great on paper but who's gonna teach em when the old guys are all cashing their pensions? I think wages will go up but only after sites are already standing still waiting for a rigger to show up.