These technicians install, maintain and replace elevators and escalators,
ensuring a safe trip up and down tall buildings. The work requires knowledge
of mechanics, electricity, hydraulics and electronics.
It's been almost 150 years since the Otis Elevator company mass-produced
the first "vertical people-movers" and designers are still trying to find
a way to make them faster, stronger and safer. In January 1998, Otis opened
the world's tallest elevator test tower at its Japan plant.
As they get older, elevators require more work. In an older urban center
with lots of tall steel buildings, there will also be older elevators waiting
for a tune-up.
Work environment ranges from high-rise office buildings to four-storey
apartments to warehouses or department stores.
While most elevator technicians work standard, 40-hour weeks, mechanics
do have to answer emergency calls. And elevators in the busiest buildings
can only be serviced after regular working hours. All this may mean weekend
or night hours.
Ronnie Race, an elevator technician, says that he has to be willing and
able to work "24 hours a day," because elevators certainly don't go to bed
when the rest of us do!
While a wide range of knowledge -- from electronics to blueprint reading
to mechanics and hydraulics -- is required for this career, it also requires
physical strength to carry heavy tools and parts. And some work areas may
be cramped and dark.