I am a "grumpy old fart LAME" working in Oz and the rest of the world doing contracts. While there is a shortage of LAME'S I will continue to have work offered, plus I have a work ethic which is sadly lacking in a lot of young people I have met in aviation; this includes engineers and pilots.
I have a wealth of knowlege to impart and sadly I have met very few AME'S or apprentices who wish to be a custodian of that knowlege.
The other point is that I will actively discourage anybody coming into the industry due to the fact that a LAME must be a criminal; all the penalty points written into the regulations mean that they must be so.
CASA are a joke, as are the licencing regulations; still not finished after 20+ years.
The aircraft maintenance industry is a sad shell of it's former self; I have enjoyed it but now the enjoyment is rapidly going south and now I am semi retired. This means I can pick the jobs I want and leave the rest, a luxury denied to many still in the industry due low wages and family, or other comitments.