Welcome.
In this post, we are going to discuss the steep decline in workers available for trade jobs and why this is happening. Also, I want to talk about what this means down the road.
First off, trade jobs could be anything like electricians, plumbers, carpenters, masons, and a lot more. Now, most of these jobs don’t require a college degree but often these workers need either some training or paid apprenticeship.
But why are fewer people going into these jobs? Let’s think about why this is happening. There are a few reasons.
First is the perception of these jobs. When I was growing up, like most people I was taught go to school, get your diploma, get a job and climb the ladder. And really it makes sense when you think about it. College is fun and It’s an easy sell. Additionally, a lot of white-collar jobs pay more, and the work is easier in the long run. I mean we can’t really compare crawling around in crawl spaces all day to white collar workers who sit all day and go grab coffee with their buddies. But I should point out a lot of tradespeople make really good money and not just the business owners.
Another reason is the last 20-30 years, the trades have done a poor job marketing these jobs and what the benefits are. I’m sure people who go to train to be a plumber know the career advantages, but it’s not marketed to the general public.
What caused this though?
So, in my opinion, this can probably be traced back to the elimination of shop classes in high school and the push in high school for everyone to go to college. I never took shop classes back in the 90s.
And I want to dive into the high school shop class decline a little more b/c this is such an important point in a person s life. Back in the 90’s, there was a bill called the “school to work initiative” which promoted trades education. But this bill backfired. Students who were viewed as low performers and had trouble with Math, English and other subjects were pushed into shop classes. So, the trades were put in a negative light. And when you think about this, if you’re a parent whose kid is struggling in biology, you want them to improve and study harder. If your kid wants to be a marine biologist you want them to overcome their challenges and achieve their goal. You don’t want the school moving them and indirectly telling them they can’t do it .
Now obviously, we need some people going to college and working white collar jobs like doctors, lawyers, loan underwriters etc. but not everyone should be pushed into this.
Now personally I think everyone should have to take a basic shop class in high school. The same with college.
I also think we need personal finance classes taught but that’s another topic for another day.
So, I believe we’re in real trouble down the road. We’re already seeing as the older workers retire young people are not replacing them, and this is happening at an alarming rate. Ask any contractor their schedule lately and whether or not they are having a hard time finding help. It’s gotten really crazy, and the trend only seems like it will get worse.
There was an article in 2023 in the WSJ that talked about the upcoming electrician shortage with the big push to electric.
It’s interesting to me because the trades are more practical, but the jobs can be seen as lower paying. Now, when you think about it, tradespeople have more skills. They are going to be able to change a tire or fix the AC in the middle of summer; a white-collar worker is going to be able to insert graphs in PowerPoint.
Now, what can the trades do about this? They got to start painting these jobs in a better light. What is the career path? How can these workers get benefits? What are the benefits over a white-collar job? I think the trades got to go after the cost of college. Student loans can cripple students for years after they graduate, even high paying jobs like lawyers or business school graduates.
Now, personally I’m learning as many of these trade skills as possible as I think the cost to hire someone is going to skyrocket in the future.
What are your thoughts?
