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Not every trade is extremely physically demanding.
Plumbing = On Your Knees
Electric Work = Slim spaces requiring flexibility
Iron worker = Heat tolerance
Roofing/Construction = All Elements, Heat , Cold and Wind
Maybe HVAC is a bit more cushy, but doesn't pay as much.
Most trades you're on your feet all day. What trade isn't????
Just heartbreaking....but I do remember this happening during the recession of '08 as well. For those of you who are older and working, how are you protecting yourselves??
I turned 50 last year - a dinosaur in my field of software engineering. But I dealt with it by earning multiple graduate degrees in recent years to keep me very up-to-date on technology. I also workout a lot at the gym. My hair is still dark (luckily). I am not graying noticeably or balding. So, the excess of graduate degrees and rigorous workout regimen have kept me "employable" as a guy who doesn't seem technically obsolete or older in his 50s. My coworkers don't seem aware I am 50. One was very surprised when I told him that. I actually got together with them one night for a gaming session on Xbox - lol. I'm a veteran of Pong, Asteroids, Super Mario, Halo, Far Cry Series, and Assassin's Creed. I routinely hike up Piestewa Peak in Phoenix with a weighted backpack. I usually ran half marathons in AZ but the pandemic postponed that. Exercise helps to slow down aging if done strategically.
But getting an advanced degree isn't easy while working. I am not married with children. I think it would be too difficult if I had been married as a father. It's a pattern of a long day at work then more graduate studies at night with numerous videos, assignments, reading, projects, etc. But after all that time the technical skills have really maximized. So, I reactivated my dice account this week and got a ridiculous amount of phone calls and emails from tech recruiters - the most I have ever gotten. I am being pulled all over the country for different jobs while still at my current job. It's bizarre. There is a pandemic recession but in some niche fields of IT the economy is still roaring. Go figure. I focus on test automation, API services, database ETL, and SQL. I know Java, Python, ReactJS, Angular, Swagger, UML, etc. I also learned how to navigate the political tension within a project that is very common. In other words, if two factions of workers don't get along on my team, I learned how to actually stay in the neutral zone and get along with both. It goes a long way in staying employed.
I've seen the other extreme though. I was unemployed for months in the recession of 2001-2002. I graduated into a recession in 1991 and lived at home with my parents for almost a year. I've seen both ends of the spectrum in not being in demand to being in very high demand.
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