That is funny! More power to him.

My son's best friend is a really bright kid...just not into Chaucer, Milton Friedman or Nietzsche. Common sense smart with no desire, now, to go to college.

After HS he did four years in the Marines as a Radioman. He made E-4 and did well.

He used his GI Bill to go to Northwest Lineman College in Idaho. He aced that program and now works for Duke Power making good money with an opportunity to make a really good salary.

He worked for me on the farm for two months between the Marines and Lineman School. Jack was here as well before going to law school. They did a great job, place never looked better.

Not everybody wants to live in a cube.

The plumber that I know makes a lot more than $130k a year. And a lot of that income escapes the IRS...

Invisible hand will correct it.

Supply/demand.
Salaries have gone up, as supply dries up.
Once people realize plumbers are making $130k, more will enroll.

The independent shop I take my car to is having a very difficult time employing competent mechanics. Says they just want to come to his garage and spend most of their time texting and talking on their phones.

The one good mechanic that has been working there told me about it and said it was crazy how much time those new guys spent with their phones and not working. He then showed me his iPhone and how he had it set to night mode. Said his wife or kids could call, but had to call a second time for it to ring thru.

Without having ever worked in the trades, my guess is what you'd want to do is go into a trade and take classes on the side in accounting etc so that you can start your own subcontractor biz and then make money on other people's physical labor . . . I suppose this won't work if the trades shortage gets so bad that your employees' wage demands become impossible to meet but then your labor would be very valuable do that's a plan B.

I think it's a good idea. The senate has been sitting on it since June though, and I don't see a lot of urgency to move it forward.

I worked my way through college with jobs as a welder, appliance repairman, and mechanic. I couldn't see myself making a career out of any of those jobs. But then once I became and engineer I couldn't see myself making a career out of that either.

Nailed it. College isn't for everyone, nor should it be. A lot of people are peer pressured into college, they end up with general business degrees and are making $40k as an assistant manager at Target. If one of my kids approached me with the desire to pursue an education in a trade, I would be all for it. Pretty hard to outsource a plumber or electrician to India. College isn't the only path to success.

When I was stationed on the Oregon coast we had a chimney sweep that made more than 130k. Guy was bonded and with that had most of the CG units contracted, he also did some fire-insert installs. I think he only had one other employee his kid who was taking over. No real HVAC just chimney stuff. I don't think he even did brickwork, just scrubbed out flues and threw in new stoves. Undercut the real HVAC guys so bad they'd just refer chimney stuff to him.

Talk about a almost zero start-up overhead. Brushes, ladders, and a good HEPA shop-vac. All his gear looked right out of the Northern Tool catalog. He'd even tag along with the FD to the elementary schools for fire safety stuff. Had little comic books he handed out to the kids and stickers. Of course he wore a top-hat and tails even on the job...big biker looking dude he-he. In my town it's like $200 to get the chimney swept just once. No real sweeps were I'm at just big outfits. That guy only charged $100. Pure genius.-WW

I agree more should consider the trades vice college.

Watching the workers (carpenters, plumbers, electricians, metal workers) during my home renovations I was amazed at what they did, how they did it effortlessly, what they taught me (I'm retired), and above all their patience...I couldn't do what they did. Talking with plumbers and electricians, it was a 2 year apprentice (plus night school), test, license, followed by 5 years journeyman (earning good money), but the dollars were as a master. They were charging me $90-$100 an hour as masters owning their own business (I live in the sticks).

When my son wanted to be a welder, I was skeptical, but now after 2 years, he has multiple certificates/journeyman and the dollars are a game changer from working at Walmart.

A lot of potential in the trades.

It's almost as important to have good business skills as the trade skills one possesses. This is why in many cases a person is better off working for someone else while absorbing the nuances of making a decent profit while perfecting the skill side of things.

I am lucky enough to still be working in my field of study...and enjoying what I do, albeit feeling a bit of the 'burn out' now that I've been doing it so long.

I also spent 5 years as a vocational instructor and watched our college slowly but surely squeeze out our trade programs to make room for the new tech stuff. This was in the 80's when the technology revolution was starting to catch on.

Anyways.....looks like now we're back to promoting more vocational training...lol...

There's also something to be said for the satisfaction of creating and/or fixing things.....good for the soul. Boosts the self-esteem like nothing else.

If you watch any of the documentaries on TV that show how we as a country and as a society created and built so much of what we needed back in the day, it's almost depressing knowing how much we import nowadays.

Future is good if they are trades that can withstand downturns in the economy.
Typically construction based trades (new construction and installs) suffer from the cycles of the economy. Boom time drives up the wage and also the number of tradesmen. When the economy turns those high number of unemployed tradesmen will work for less money driving the wage for that industry down.

Ah...good one Bill! That's the point I wanted to also make. When the economy goes south....things slow down. The big companies suffer the most. The smaller ones or one man shows can weather the storm much better.

Keep the overhead down! ;)

I went that route only because of a couple of shop classed in jr high school. I knew I wanted to be in the building trades but was smart enough to know that it will break my back in the long run. Did all the dirty work in my early 20s while going to college. Never worked for a contractor full time, but acted as a sub contractor, a cabinet maker. They called when they have work, so that worked out well with flexible schedule during my long college career. Jump right into the thick of things as business grew while in college, and somehow ended up as a contractor. I still enjoy my work but my role is different now, but I still really enjoy the actual building and doing finer finish carpentry.

I met so many great crafts people during my 30 years of doing this and they are retiring faster then we can find young people to fill that roll. I can't find a good finish carpentry with a damn, or one who cares, so my own guys end up doing all the higher end work eating up a lot of our time. Something about the young guys who like to be on the phone? They are always looking at the damn thing. I just don't know why. We had a young guy out of trade school who had to look at his phone every time he walks out to the truck to get a tool. A 30 second walk turns into a two min walk with that damn thing in his hand. In our area, lots of the crafts people are from south of the border. They are still trainable and are willing to do the job right. I found that once they started working for themselves, they just take lots of short cuts and quality slips fast.

As the younger money making population grows (hipsters), they are willing to pay whatever it takes to get things done right because they can't tell the difference between a monkey wrench and a pliers. I kept telling my guys, when the phone rings in 10 years, they will be looking for you, and not me because they will have no competition and that they can relate to the hipsters because of their similar age. My young hipsters clinets are all in the movie industry and are looking to spend stupid money only because they have it and are willing to flaunt it in their big dollar homes.

Our school climate is backwards. They never listen to industry and their needs. One of the dumbest thing they can do is take out the shops. they put down the trades and just couldn't understand why tradesmen are making so much money per hour, more then them with a college degree.

Yep, we are a small firm. During the last downturn in the economy,, we were going six days a week none stop. Didn't feel the slowdown. Growing my business into a large company means a heck of a lot more work on dealing with the different working folks. That's a hand full with people that are not very educated. I talk to my guys a couple times a day and see them a couple times a week just to make sure things are done to my satisfaction. No stress on my part and I am off their backs.

I am going into the trades, after I retire from my desk career - God willing. The problem with college is that the cost has been running double the rate of inflation for the last 20 years. Yet everyone only talks bout the debt side. Why not talk about the cost side? Why are universities paying "professors" $140k a year to "teach" 3 classes a semester, 2 of which are actually taught by a TA? Factor in a couple sabbaticals and tenure and these guys are absolutely CRUSHING it in terms of an hourly wage and are virtually unfireable. What a beautiful scam.

Ah yes, 'someone other than me should get into the trades'

There are plenty of tradesmen out there, mostly mechanics, who have paid more for their tools than they would have for tuition on a 4-year degree.

My university education is paid for by selling stuff to people in the trades, lol.

I would have loved that. I was very close go going a more technical route as opposed to an MBA. I hope I'll have the best of both worlds, as the interview tomorrow is in IT consulting SmileWavySmileWavy

^ Jeff gets it. Big time.