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Not exactly news-anyone involved in any type of manufacturing or construction knows this. What is new is that even our media is recognizing the 5 decade long failure of our educational industry to recognize and promote skilled trades. Demand is such that a machinist, electrician or carpenter will make more than many with bachelor's degrees.
There’s never been a rule saying that skill tradesmen are supposed to make less than people with degrees. It just so happens that college educated people make more money over a lifetime, but no one ever said that it’s a guarantee.
Anyway children...don’t listen to any fool telling you NOT to pursue a college degree. And get as many degrees and attend as much college as you can.
If that’s not for you, then get yourself a marketable skill.
There’s never been a rule saying that skill tradesmen are supposed to make less than people with degrees. It just so happens that college educated people make more money over a lifetime, but no one ever said that it’s a guarantee.
Anyway children...don’t listen to any fool telling you NOT to pursue a college degree. And get as many degrees and attend as much college as you can.
If that’s not for you, then get yourself a marketable skill.
Don't forget to tell them that they should expect to have a boatload of debt to start out their working life!!!!!
A lot of people don't get into the trades because they have little mechanical aptitude. So if you get an MBA or a degree in Accounting, English, Teaching, Chemistry, etc., etc., quite possibly you didn't enter the trades because you don't know the business end of a screwdriver.
I talk to college students who are studying to be diesel mechanics a few times each year, and these are mainly farm kids, kids who grew up working on tractors and rebuilding their car engines as high school students. They have mechanical aptitude. Another thing they have is almost guaranteed job placement after graduation, as this career field is in high demand. You can make a fortune as a welder, but it's dirty, hard on your back, you breathe a lot of smoke in and it takes a toll on your body. And a lot of people don't want to do these jobs.
But if you are educated in the latest mechanics or don't mind welding, you can make more money than a lot of people in the business world. I think your ceiling might be lower but your job security is much higher.
Not exactly news-anyone involved in any type of manufacturing or construction knows this. What is new is that even our media is recognizing the 5 decade long failure of our educational industry to recognize and promote skilled trades. Demand is such that a machinist, electrician or carpenter will make more than many with bachelor's degrees.
I agree. There has been an over emphasis on a college education since I was young. These days one needs a Bachelors degree to get a job for which a high school diploma would have sufficed forty years ago. The cost-benefit ratio for a bachelor's degree has plummeted in that time.
Of course, as the qualified journeymen are turned out and the shortages reduced, the relative wages will tumble.
I would greatly disagree with your position. Every organization I have worked for offers short/long term disability insurance for their employees above and beyond work comp.
tell that to the guy that broke his back at work and can't work any more and is in constant pain after it healed. He can't even mow his own lawn or do his old hobbies any longer due to being disabled. Sure, workers comp covered it and whatever else(disability), but his life as he knew it before is over due to the injury. He's permanently disabled 7x24. Hopefully he doesn't get addicted to opioids due to being in constant pain. Having your health is priceless.
It won't help... There will always be a segment of society that looks down their nose at the guy they call to fix their toilets. At the same time lamenting their MBA in basket weaving won't help them get a job ....
MBA’s almost ALWAYS make a good living.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PullMyFinger
If you are physically fit and can pass a background check and drug test my company would make you an apprentice and within 3 years you’ll be making 6 figures. But you work OT and shift work and you work in the elements. Americans need to step up because the legal Mexicans we hire are making us look really bad.
Six figures after a 3 year apprenticeship?
Ehhhh...not likely. You guys toss that six figs stuff around here like it’s going out of style. Only a very tiny percentage of Americans make that yearly. Very, very tiny.
1. A majority of college students don’t finish on time — and a large minority never finish at all.
2. Most of the curriculum is neither socially useful nor personally enjoyable.
3. The “hidden benefits” of college are mostly wishful thinking.
4. The more education our society has, the more every worker needs to get a job. (i.e., credential inflation)
5. Thanks to heavy government subsidies and “locked-in syndrome,” our dysfunctional system is built to last.
The last is the biggest problem and makes it unreformable. The professoriat would never stand for shifting more to trade education. It would mean too many of them would be jobless. And unemployable.
College grads make more money over a lifetime than non grads do. That’s a simple fact of life. There’s no getting around it.
And the gap difference isn’t small either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phma
The one trade that I've seen that always has work even in a slow cycle is welding.
For the most part trades are like athletes. You have a set amount of time, which may vary by trade, for peak performance and then decline. That's why you don't see to many 65 y/o roofers.
Best be working on moving up into management or something less physically demanding. A guy who can run a crew is often more valuable than a crew run without direction.
Welders don’t make that much money overall. Depends on the job.
If you’re in the oilfield, it can pay quite handsomely. Shipyard welders do well when they have work. But the average welder here in Arizona won’t see more than $15-$20 bucks an hour.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LordSquidworth
The guy fixing those toilets is probably better paid then the people with toilets needing fixing.
Rarely.
Plumbers make great money if they’re unionized. Non union plumbers aren’t breaking the bank unless they own the business. The average plumber makes about 50k a year or thereabouts. Many make far less if they don’t own the business or work under another contractor’s license.
The 100k a year plumber exists, but is very rare.
Quote:
Originally Posted by my54ford
Don't forget to tell them that they should expect to have a boatload of debt to start out their working life!!!!!
Depends. I left college with no debt. My father put me through college. I put my son through college.
There are ways to go through college without a ton of debt, but no one gets something for nothing. Critical skills cost money. NOT getting an education is MORE expensive. Being poor is unbelievably expensive. Struggling is expensive. Not having access to good credit is expensive.
A college degree is cheap in comparison to the costs of not having one if you have no other marketable skill.
tell that to the guy that broke his back at work and can't work any more and is in constant pain after it healed. He can't even mow his own lawn or do his old hobbies any longer due to being disabled. Sure, workers comp covered it and whatever else(disability), but his life as he knew it before is over due to the injury. He's permanently disabled 7x24. Hopefully he doesn't get addicted to opioids due to being in constant pain. Having your health is priceless.
Sad story.....As I mentioned, some jobs are not for the complacent or faint of heart or unintelligent. I work in an industry that is exceptionally dangerous and we train all the time. Do accidents happen? Yes they do. But like they say no guts no glory, no balls no blue chips.
Yea, the trades, that way they get get criticized for being "uneducated" every time a vote does not go the Democrats way.
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