Hello. My name is Liberta. Usually, I...Electrician Depot's Official Twitter AccountやBlog: "Electrician Depot"We provide information on careers and job changes in the construction industry and for electricians.
In this post, I’ll share my thoughts on an in-person meetup we organized after hitting it off during a Twitter Spaces session.
It all started with a simple tweet.
"Are they really going to show up?"
That's what I thought at first.
It all started with someone’s casual tweet suggesting, “Let’s have an offline meetup.” From there, a Space was set up, and a specific location was decided.
The meeting place is the port city of Yokohama.
Since I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat and was afraid to go into the venue alone, I met up with another participant from the electrical contracting industry at Yokohama Station and made it into the venue safely.
Near the entrance to the venue, a group of tough-looking guys are sizing each other up, wondering, “Is that the one?” With their smartphones in hand, they keep glancing at one another.
Their demeanor was a far cry from that of “THE on-site supervisor”—the kind who shouts orders and directs operations on the job—and instead, they looked just like a shy middle school couple chatting on LINE even though they were in the same room.
Since I’d decided to attend the meetup with some skepticism—honestly wondering, “Will anyone actually show up?” and “Is this some old-school prank?”—I was surprised to see that as many as eight people from the construction industry actually gathered.
When we meet in person, we can hear each other’s stories
I walk into the restaurant and take a seat.
"Okay, let me introduce myself! My name is ○○!"
There wasn’t a hint of that “speed-dating” vibe, and even though there was a bit of hesitation, everyone naturally reached for a beer, and the meetup began.
The best thing about meetups is that you can feel the human touch. No matter what timeline we end up in, I can’t imagine a future where we’re sharing a beer with AI and holding meetups.
There was a “warmth” there that you just can’t feel online—whether it was people who loved to chat, those with expressive gestures, people who surprised me by looking younger than I expected, or those who were very considerate.
With drinks and meat on the table and the mood just right, I was able to hear stories that I would never hear at the company where I usually work.
In the construction industry, even within the same sector, there can be significant variations in working conditions and job duties from one company to another. While some companies offer 120 days of annual leave, others do not even provide 80 days off per year for the same type of work.
Even among those working in electrical construction management, the knowledge and experience required differ between someone involved in in-building wiring for new apartment buildings and someone like me who works on factory production lines.
Even if you broadly categorize them as “electronics stores” or “XX stores,” there are areas where they specialize and others where they don’t. This is something you might not realize just by looking at your own company.
Since even within the same field of electrical work, there are differences, I found the conversations with architectural and facilities designers, as well as the exchange of experiences with building maintenance staff, to be very stimulating. Normally, my interactions with people in other industries are limited to work-related matters. But at these off-site gatherings, we can talk openly and honestly without any conflicting interests.
Hearing about the reasons why young employees quit, stories of past experiences with exploitative workplaces, and the perspectives of designers whose names I usually only see on blueprints—all of it provided me with fresh insights. Sometimes I’d find myself nodding along, thinking, “I totally get that.”
In particular, I could completely relate to what a construction site supervisor told me: “Mid-career hires are ready to hit the ground running! Even if you’re thrown right into the field, you have to find a way to get through it!” I’ve experienced this myself.
“Mid-career hires are ready to hit the ground running”—I understand that, but when you change jobs, it’s really hard to bridge the gap between the rules at your previous job and those at your new one. So, if you’re just thrown into that situation, it’s only natural to feel anxious about what’s right and how to proceed.
The Potential of the Construction Industry: What I Learned from Attending an Offline Meetup
More than 20 years ago, when I first started working as an electrician, I struggled with a puzzling hierarchy on construction sites where “architecture, civil engineering, formwork, and rebar workers were considered higher in status,” while “electrical and plumbing workers were considered lower in status.”
But what about now?
It has been 34 years since the Showa era ended in 1989, and the time has now come when people can gather on Twitter—free from any vested interests—and speak their minds openly.
Even when meat and beer are on the table at an offline meetup, there’s no room for pride or hierarchical relationships. All that matters is the desire to “have fun with fellow construction industry colleagues.”
I feel hopeful about the future of the construction industry. An industry with people who possess such passion and drive simply cannot be in decline.
In one tweet, construction workers were ranked fourth on a list of “jobs that will disappear in 10 years,” but AI doesn’t have any passion, does it? That’s why I believe that even as AI continues to advance, the construction industry remains a promising career path.
Through this meetup, I was reminded once again that “passion is what builds a structure.”
This might sound like empty rhetoric, but it’s precisely because these are homes where people live and buildings where people come and go that passionate people are drawn to the field, making it a truly rewarding career. The construction industry, with its passionate workforce, is a field with a bright future. We’re not going to lose out to AI.
Summary
In this post, I shared details about the “meetup” we organized following a Twitter Spaces session for the construction industry, as well as my personal impressions of the event.
After hosting the meetup, I realized there are people who are passionate about the construction industry.
I don’t think the eight people who attended this meetup were all representatives of construction companies. We just looked around, struck up conversations, and got together with fellow followers—which created a sense of unity and gave us the motivation to say, “Alright! Let’s keep working hard!” That’s all there is to it.
If you’re someone who looks only at the company you work for and thinks, “I hate this industry” or “Maybe I should switch to a different industry,” why not try attending an offline meetup?
Going beyond the boundaries of your industry and your company’s conventional wisdom, these passionate pioneers dedicated to manufacturing might just inspire you with new possibilities and motivation.
