On my current site i'm working under a very abrasive journeyman. he clearly feels inconvenienced when he has to show me something, is generally irritable (has a short temper with everyone), and very clearly doesn't like working with me. I don't like working with him either. often he yells at me, sometimes i yell back.
i'm the only apprentice on site so there's no chance of me getting put with someone else, i'm pretty sure they need an apprentice with him specifically, it wouldn't be economical to pair him with another journey. i'm there to move material and help him install 4 inch emt.
on top of all this, i'm not very good at the work. i'm a second year apprentice, first time doing slab, have low mechanical aptitude and he and the foreman have repeatedly complained about me being slow. he's obviously much more valuable to the company than I am, does a lot of important work, is essentially the foreman's leadhand, and is a shop steady. I started with this company in february. I presume he has some pull in the company, and the foreman must value his opinion.
i'm not afraid of being laid off in general, i'm not living paycheque to paycheque and have been laid off before (either an RIF, or when I got covid) but i've heard about "bad" layoffs vs. good layoffs, and am looking for more information.
If I get laid off, not for a reduction in force, but because of my inability to work well with this journeyman and/or poor work output how would that affect my position in the apprenticeship? in general i'm having doubts about my ability to become a good journeyman. I may be able to get through the apprenticeship and get my license, but am skeptical of my ability to perform journeyman quality work once I top out. Nonetheless, I have nothing to lose and no better options so I won't be quitting the apprenticeship, but think it's a possibility that I get kicked out due to incompetence.
For the record, I would quit this call if I could, and if the foreman threatens me with a layoff in an attempt to improve my work output, I don't plan on begging for my job. Depending on how he broaches the topic (if he does at all) and what mood I'm in when he brings it up, I may encourage him to do so.
I'm also more generally curious about all this from the foreman/company's perspective. Since he's unsatisfied with my work, why not just lay me off and put out a call for another apprentice? is there some disincentive from doing so? I've heard that there would be a 2 week delay from putting out a call for another apprentice if they lay me off, is this true at 353? There's 40 apprentices on the books right now so I don't think they'd have a problem finding another one. I'd like as much information as possible to help me better navigate this situation.
Thanks for any help.
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- 1 year ago
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