Are there any 40 hour a week jobs out there anymore?

[Ottakee]

Dh is a machinist/tool and die guy as well as a state certified and ASE certified mechanic.  He has a teaching degree to teach automotive, machine shop and welding.

 

Where we live though the teaching jobs are not out there and we would rather not move.  The problem with the machinist/tool and die as well as auto repair is that the hours are LONG.  He really wants a 40 hour work week.  We are OK financially so we aren't needing the overtime like some familes.

 

With 3 special needs kids, a job that has him home more is higher on the list than more money.

 

Any ideas for jobs to look for?

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

I don't know, but I would look to state and county transportation jobs. My hubby was in the automotive industry for almost 20 years and he never worked less than 50 hours a week (salaried, commission and NO OT). The dealership he worked at is open all weekends and crazy-long hours. It seems like some industries don't want you to have a life.

 

Two mechanics that he worked with got out of the industry. One went to work for the General Services Administration (GSA) in Washington, DC, as a part of their contracting division that bought and maintained vehicles for the federal government.

 

The other went to work on Metro buses in Washington DC.

 

Both now have time for a life.

 

hth,

K

[linders]

Perhaps local or state government? Often the pay isn't as good as private industry, but the hours are more regular and the benefits are decent. A local friend (we're in SC) tells me good machinists are hard to come by.

[Kari C in SC]

My dh is also a mechanic. Has been for a little over 20 years. He finally got out of smaller shops about 5 years ago and went to work for SC Department of Transportation.

 

The positives are he works 4 ten hour days and has 3 day weekends. He gets 3 weeks vacation and 3 weeks sick time and tons of holidays each year. He also does not have to provide his own tools, so he has all his tools at home along with a lift in our garage. Handy for side work. He has good benefits. That was our main reason for having him go to this job. He was uninsurable and most of the smaller shops didn't offer insurance.

 

The bad side is one thing... Salary. It stinks. Really, really, really stinks. We took a $12k to $15k pay cut to take this job. Our thoughts were that he could do side work on his extra day off to make up for it. That has worked well. Anyway, good luck.

[Anne in CA]

Could he possibly work for himself? I have a friend whose father worked as a mechanic for a long time also and just could not catch a break to work a few less hours a week, much less get two full weeks of vacation. So he started fixing up cars and selling them on the internet. He is making decent money, but he has to pay his own health insurance so it is not really lucrative. But he loves that he can play with the grandkids for a few minutes when they come over and then use work as an excuse to head back out to the shop when they tire him out, lol.

[foxbridgeacademy]

I would look at working for the City/County/State or a smallish shop that has the autonomy to guarantee him the 40 hour Max.

[Ravin]

A friend's husband works as a mechanic on the city vehicles.

[Ottakee]

He was working for the state in the prison system and that was a great job.............until the state downsized and closed the prison.  He was low man so laid off.  He has been trying to get back in with the state (since he had a great record there and high reviews) as well as county/city type jobs but we are in a very high unemployment area and those jobs just aren't out there.

 

Seems like even the temp jobs are nothing or 60+ hours a week mandatory.

 

I search Craig's list job postings 3 times a day for him and he is on the websites of the local city, county and state websites daily checking new job postings.  In our area, it is very rare that anyone will let you come in in person to fill out an application/apply for a job.  It is all done over the internet which is frustrating.

 

He would LOVE to work for himself either repairing cars or doing small machining jobs...............but..........I don't think the township would allow him to do so our of our home even though he has a huge pole barn with machines, welder, and car hoist.  Then there are the legalities of self employment taxes, small business taxes, OSHA rules and on and on.  We might have to check more into that though.

 

[Lanny]

Your DH should also check to see if the kinds of jobs he can do are listed on Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com If so, he should take the time to register on both web sites. It will take time, but the more detailed information he gives them, the better the responses they will send to him.

 

I had a wonderful mechanic for my Toyota, when I lived in North Central Texas. I can only tell you, in polite words, the dealerships were giving him and their other mechanics the shaft...

 

He lived in the country, possibly without the licensing, zoning restrictions you may or may not have, and he started fixing cars there. I took my car to his house, many times and he saved me a lot of money.

 

Once, he got fed up with being a mechanic and thought it would be great to be a UPS driver, so one Christmas season, he went to work for UPS. He discovered that he was too old (mid 30's) to work at that pace and he went back to fixing cars.

 

Prior to him working as a mechanic, he worked as an Independent Trucker, but that took him away from his family a lot, so he went from that to working as a Toyota Mechanic.  There should be more honest and expert mechanics like him in the world!  Good luck to your DH in finding something he likes.