How many of you work in a trade and are you worried about the future of it?

legkicktko

legkicktko

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My best friend is twenty years old and works in a manual labor trade. He has no formal education. It took him less than 3 months to learn the trade, and he is very smart. He has always been great as a problem solver and has managed to become very proficient in his work.

However, he is sometimes reluctant to leave his comfort zone and I worry about the feasibility of him working this trade for the rest of his working life (that is his plan). I think he can do much better, in my opinion he is a different caliber of brain than the people he works with. I also don't think hanging around in the trade is as safe of a long term option as he thinks it is.

I want him to either start his own business, or go to school and secure some formal education. I wouldn't even mind if it wasn't formal education, I just want to see him expand his knowledge. I think it is kind of crazy to be so young, commit to such a simple career, and expect it to last forever. I think most of us should master several jobs throughout our lifetime. In addition, the elephant in the room when it comes to trades is that in many of them, the employees become disposable because the barriers to entry are non-existent (hence it takes three months to learn the trade).

What are your thoughts on the matter?
 
Trade skills are in an incredibly high demand right now. Too many young people think college is the only option for a career.

Welders, plumbers, ditch diggers, electricians....

All of those jobs are in a labor shortage right now and need people. You can easily make a decent middle class living doing one of those with a short stint in a trade school. I have a good friend who's been a lineman for a major power company and he's easily making $100k a year right now.

The downsides are union requirements, hard physical labor, and long hours. If you don't mind any of that, it's really not a terrible gig.
 
jgarner said:
Trade skills are in an incredibly high demand right now. Too many young people think college is the only option for a career.

Welders, plumbers, ditch diggers, electricians....

All of those jobs are in a labor shortage right now and need people. You can easily make a decent middle class living doing one of those with a short stint in a trade school. I have a good friend who's been a lineman for a major power company and he's easily making $100k a year right now.

The downsides are union requirements, hard physical labor, and long hours. If you don't mind any of that, it's really not a terrible gig.
Click to expand...
He is working for a natural gas company as a maintenance guy (essentially fixing gas leaks).

The part that I would be worried about is that they are developing new technology all the time (according to him) to make gas leaks a more rare occurrences. The number of people the organization employs is directly correlated to number of leaks. It seems like to me, from the outside in, that its a ticking time bomb before those people are needed less and less.

Most of it stems from the fact that I think he's brilliant and wasting his brain cells working with guys that have no other option (I'm an asshole I know, but it's how I feel).
 
being in a trade which requires an apprenticeship but not college is the way to go right now... I just paid an electriction 75 bucks for less than an hours work and he doesnt have 90,000 in school loans
 
legkicktko said:
He is working for a natural gas company as a maintenance guy (essentially fixing gas leaks).

The part that I would be worried about is that they are developing new technology all the time (according to him) to make gas leaks a more rare occurrences. The number of people the organization employs is directly correlated to number of leaks. It seems like to me, from the outside in, that its a ticking time bomb before those people are needed less and less.

Most of it stems from the fact that I think he's brilliant and wasting his brain cells working with guys that have no other option (I'm an asshole I know, but it's how I feel).
Click to expand...


In that situation, it would be rather easy for him to transition from maintenance to installing and replacing the lines as technology gets better. I wouldn't imagine he needs to leave the industry entirely.
 
I've got plenty of friends that are 30 year old waiters. You're friend sounds like he will be fine
 
legkicktko said:
Most of it stems from the fact that I think he's brilliant and wasting his brain cells working with guys that have no other option (I'm an asshole I know, but it's how I feel).
Click to expand...

you sure hes just "a friend" ?
 
jgarner said:
In that situation, it would be rather easy for him to transition from maintenance to installing and replacing the lines as technology gets better. I wouldn't imagine he needs to leave the industry entirely.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Actually his job seems like it would be pretty secure. Maintenance jobs are CRUCIAL in all fields. He could move to another area pretty easily.
Robots will not be taking those jobs anytime soon.
 
You really just have to have a plan and goals. You should advise him to try to become a lead or supervisor in the future.
I know a lot of blue collar people that have advanced in their field and make healthy six figure salaries.
 
that job seems pretty secure they will always need people in case of leaks. I have natural gas, not sure about this new technology but its a pipe from the road to my house and always a chance of a leak in that or in my house
 
jgarner said:
In that situation, it would be rather easy for him to transition from maintenance to installing and replacing the lines as technology gets better. I wouldn't imagine he needs to leave the industry entirely.
Click to expand...
Or see if he could get a job as a LNG tech at a plant nearby.
 
People of all trades should always be a bit worried. But really, that's the trade off (I know it's a pun) between going that route and getting a college education. In a trade, you can learn on the job and acquire human capital. However, your industry is always somewhat threatened. However, should those jobs go away, you can always learn another trade fairly quickly. If you go the college route, you will get an education in something that is probably not going to change drastically in the near future, as well as a general education, both of which signal to employers that you are knowledgeable and disciplined enough to finish school. You get saddled with debt, but generally make a high enough salary over your lifetime to compensate for that debt and usually end up in a more stable job. So, it really depends on what you want to do.
 
As my dad puts it, if you're a sparky (electrician) you'll never be out of money.

My brother is a senior apprentice joiner. Looking to make good money.

I'm an admin guy.... :/ i'd say he's in a better spot than me
 
That was true until very recently. AI and advanced computing is a potential threat to even the most advanced fields. Law, medicine, financial services will be affected in the future.

It is insane what Artificial intelligence will be capable of.
 
im an electrician. I feel that before my trade goes it will become flooded as many lose positions in lower skilled fields and have to aquire a trade to gain employment.
 
legkicktko said:
My best friend is twenty years old and works in a manual labor trade. He has no formal education. It took him less than 3 months to learn the trade, and he is very smart. He has always been great as a problem solver and has managed to become very proficient in his work.

However, he is sometimes reluctant to leave his comfort zone and I worry about the feasibility of him working this trade for the rest of his working life (that is his plan). I think he can do much better, in my opinion he is a different caliber of brain than the people he works with. I also don't think hanging around in the trade is as safe of a long term option as he thinks it is.

I want him to either start his own business, or go to school and secure some formal education. I wouldn't even mind if it wasn't formal education, I just want to see him expand his knowledge. I think it is kind of crazy to be so young, commit to such a simple career, and expect it to last forever. I think most of us should master several jobs throughout our lifetime. In addition, the elephant in the room when it comes to trades is that in many of them, the employees become disposable because the barriers to entry are non-existent (hence it takes three months to learn the trade).

What are your thoughts on the matter?
Click to expand...

You sound way too worried about what you want your friend to do with his life.
 
Im in the operating engineers union. I dont see my job going away anytime soon.
 
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