Hawaii jobs for finish carpenters?

[Nords]

I post a lot to other discussion boards, and many of their posters have questions about Hawaii. Our collective HawaiiThreads wisdom & experience have helped a lot of Mainlanders decide how to visit here or whether they want to live here, but I don't know the answer to this question:

I have a young son-in-law who is a finish carpenter in an Oregon city which is a really high unemployment area these days. As I have a lot more experience in the job-hunting business, he's asked me to look into this on his behalf. There are a few postings on Hawaii Craigslist for craftsmen, which is encouraging. There are also a few government sites that seem to be good, but the applicable postings are few. The contrast is troubling. Do you think there are prospects in Hawaii these days? Should I give him any encouragement for this?

I don't know many finish carpenters, but Hawaii's whole construction economy seems to be barely treading water. I know there are projects in Kapolei, downtown, and near Ewa but I doubt that a Mainlander would be welcome to compete for a job with locals. I don't know whether the rail system needs finish carpenters.

I don't know his family situation or whether he'd even like the islands, but those are questions that he's only going to be able to consider if there's a reasonable chance of getting a job here first.

Any suggestions on finding that type of job on Oahu or a neighbor island? Anyone looking at a really big remodel project? What's a good link to the carpenter's union and its rules/dues? Thanks!

[Kaonohi]

Re: Hawaii jobs for finish carpenters?

Usually I have some small carpenter jobs that need doing, and I have always had a hard time finding a good carpenter to do the job.

[LikaNui]

Re: Hawaii jobs for finish carpenters?

I doubt that a Mainlander would be welcome to compete for a job with locals.

Absolutely 100% correct. He'd be at the very bottom of a very very long list of unemployed carpenters.

I don't know whether the rail system needs finish carpenters.

It's going to be years before they even break ground for the rail project, if they ever do. It could easily be a decade before they'd need finish carpenters, if they even would.

I don't know his family situation or whether he'd even like the islands

That's another strike against the idea. What he should do is take an extended vacation here and learn all he can about living here and about job prospects. Frankly, I think he'd be wasting his money.

, but those are questions that he's only going to be able to consider if there's a reasonable chance of getting a job here first.

Tell him to look out his window. If he sees pigs flying, then there might be a chance of a job here. Sorry to be cold, but the truth hurts sometimes.

Any suggestions on finding that type of job on Oahu or a neighbor island? Anyone looking at a really big remodel project? What's a good link to the carpenter's union and its rules/dues?

Chances for him are even worse on the neighbor islands. As for joining a union here, that's another 'mission impossible' unless he's related to someone who's already on the inside and who has a lot of pull.
Remind him that he's not the first person to dream of working in "paradise." The island is overflowing with homeless people who had the same dream.