If a young person thinks of being an auto mechanic, an HVAC repairman, a welder or a pipefitter, is that really a 21st-century job? Is it a job that really has openings available?
Well, I did not use to think much of this kind of work, in fact, I never even considered it for myself or my kids.
A few years back, though, when one of my sons finished high school and expressed an interest in welding, I thought he was crazy. Those jobs aren’t around anymore, right?
Well, was I in for a surprise when I looked into it. Fact is, those jobs are still around, but there are few people around who are willing to fill those jobs! So, there is a high demand for people like welders, plumbers and such! I was amazed to learn that a lot of these tradesmen make large salaries too!
On this note, my friend Dave Starr and I recently got together for a discussion on the topic, and I think we had some productive ideas to share with each other and with you too! Watch the video below and you can chime in by leaving a comment!
So, what did you think of the discussion? What do you think about this type of job? Is it viable for a young person today? Let me know your thoughts.
Thank you also to Dave for joining me. If you want to visit Dave’s jobs site, check it out here: Retired Pay.
Hi Bob,
Loved the conversation About ten years ago I read “The Bell Curve” about IQ. One of the things I took away from the book was the profound change in our society after World War II. Before WWII you could find people of any IQ in the trades. People with high IQ’s became master craftsmen. After WWII the government through the education community decided that high IQ students were put into college prep level courses and the rest went to shop. Fast forward to the 80’s and you see that master craftsmen have all retired. With all the high IQ students going into white collar jobs, blue collar jobs got a “bad” name.
Fast forward into the 21st century where my brother-in-law who is a journeyman electrician turns into a teacher of electricians. Over half of his classes are made up of students with college degrees. There are two reasons for this: the pay is better and some people just don’t like working in cubicles.
The Wall Street Journal recently had an article about how in large cities in the USA companies are starting to treat tradesmen like software developers. One plumbing company had ping pong tables and masseuses for the plumbers.
Personally, I didn’t finish high school (got me GED later in the Navy), and I started college when I was twenty-five. I had found my first love, programming, after trying about forty different jobs. some of them were technical and down right labor intensive.
My favorite blue collar worker is the garbage man. I could not live without him. It would be hard to live in the filth.
Keep up the good work.
Hi Tony,
The Bell Curve book was very controversial, but I don’t really know why.
People in the trades are hard to find now, but they are making good money! They are in demand because there are few of them around.
If you are interested in this type of topic, check out Mike Rowe (host of Dirty Jobs). He is easy to find on Facebook, YouTube and his own site, https://MikeRoweWorks.com
Thanks for joining the conversation!