Actually FMCtempest, I've been out of the industry for about 18months, and while I agree with the majority of what you say, I think things like airstairs, and ground power units are two things that ALL ramp agents ought to be trained on as early as possible. Its simply a very basic thing, that if everybody can do, just makes the job so much easier.
Obviously you dont NEED an entire crew trained on things like pushback driving, or de-icing.
Obviously not speaking about your particular training scheme and methods, but in my last year on the ramp, it just seemed all too often that seasonal staff were being given the bare minimum training, and that harms the flexibility, which late at night, with a minimum night shift is going to lead to situations like the original poster described.
I also think you hit the nail on the head by mentioning the reduction in qualified trainers. Increasing a trainers workload isnt going to help.
Finally, you are damn right about there being worse jobs. I loved it out there, and whinging and whining was all part of the fun. But its amazing how many seasonal staff come back, and how many fulltime staff stay on!
RTG!