Earn More Than College Grads With Online Trade Programs

Due to the shortage of skilled trade workers, these programs will pay people to learn HVAC skills.

Today, there’s a nationwide labor shortage of skilled jobs. One of the biggest reasons for this shortage is the increase in the number of retiring skilled laborers.

Most baby boomers are now in their 70s and cannot work to the bone. Furthermore, they are very few students who are enrolling for trade school careers. As a result, there’s a huge opportunity for individuals looking for secure and lucrative careers.

Trade schools’ careers are less expensive when compared to a traditional college degree. Also, they don’t require four years of commitment and provide students a clear path to sustainable careers. In trade schools, you will only speed one year of classroom training to receive your certification, and the rest is on-the-job.

Here we’ll focus on the various reasons why trade school careers are your ticket to a more secure feature.

Shortage of Skilled Labor

Skilled labor doesn’t mean mopping restaurant floors or flipping burgers at KFC. These jobs are always in high demand, but they don’t have bright future prospects. It’s just a matter of time before they get fully automated (replaced by machines).

However, trade skill jobs will never get replaced by machines since machines don’t have the handiness to carry out these kinds of tasks. The truth is, the continuous advancement of technology will significantly increase the demand for trade skills. As more and more people become technology-dependent, they will forget to learn basic electrical and pumping skills.

The demand for skilled labor will always be there. Take a case where there is a big storm and most utilities are down. Companies and individuals will have to seek the help of tradesmen to clean up and rebuild.

Cost and Accessibility

An increase in the demand for certain jobs means an increase in the cost of labor. Although this benefits the worker, citizens who have to pay for their services suffer the most.

For a better explanation, let’s focus on the construction industry. Today, it’s so expensive to build a new home. In 2018 construction expenditure hit $1.3 trillion and this was majorly contributed by the shortage in skilled labor. These days construction projects take longer than usual since workers are spread thin.

Even though the shortage of trade laborers is pushing compensation higher in fields of specialized trades, the benefits of having a 4-year college education are declining. In addition, the understudy credit obligations that undergraduates take continues to increase.

Most secondary schools urge their students to pursue a 4-year certification as opposed to enrolling for trade programs that not only focus on their education but their trade abilities and skills. Trade school programs give students a chance to finish school earlier and gain hands-on skills that can propel them into a lucrative occupation.

Get Paid to Learn a Skilled Trade

As a result of this shortage of tradespeople, there are a number of programs out there that will pay people to acquire these skills. This is especially true in the HVAC industry as there are 8 different programs across the United States where you can get paid as an apprentice to learn HVAC skills. You can expect a three to five year apprenticeship program where you work under a licensed HVAC technician and get paid during the entire period.

Causes of the Shortage

The shortage of skilled laborers seems to increase every day. It’s like when one skilled laborer enters the industry, five retire or resign.

Throughout the US, there is a shortage of talented trade laborers in HVAC, plumbing, electric, mechanical, and carpentry work. More and more skilled trade laborers are resigning at a higher rate compared to those being brought in.

According to the Associated General Contractors of America, about 70% of American contractors are having a difficult time securing new trade specialists. The following are the reasons why we have a shortage of talented laborers.

Generation Gaps

In the modern trade industry, family trade businesses are less common. Trade skills are usually passed down from one generation to another. However, millennials have shown a strong dislike for their parents’ way of life. They don’t want to follow in their footsteps. They want to carve their own legacy.

Recession

The adaptation of technology might have disarranged the order of trade skills, but the recession made things even worse. When the economy crashed, the housing market suffered significant losses and many talented trades laborers lost their jobs. The result was a huge shortage of experience in sectors that required trade skills.

Replacing the lost laborers hasn’t been easy ever since, and only a third of those jobs lost have been replaced since 2008.

Digital Takeover

Technology has infiltrated most of our daily tasks, making manual labor seem less valuable. In school students are urged to focus harder on STEM and technical education and not on shop classes or life skills. Additionally, budget cuts have intensified things, making it harder for people to pursue such skills in fear of earning low salaries.

Why Should You Pursue A Trade School Career?

Not everyone desires to pursue a traditional 4-years college degree, same as not everyone wished to be a carpenter, plumber, or electrician.

That’s said, it’s still wise to consider a trade school career since it comes with numerous benefits, one being it can save you thousands in debt. Other benefits include:

Faster Transition to Employment

A college degree is expensive and offers you less time to work. By learning a trade, you can start working a few months or a year after finishing your classroom training, and not after 4 -years like in college. This means you can later afford to pay for your college classes and increase your income immediately.

Another thing, college graduates usually have a hard time finding a job in their field. And before they can reach median pay, they have to pass through the internship/ entry-level phase. Many programs even pay students to learn via apprenticeships.

Job Security

All the jobs we have highlighted have the potential of growing significantly in the coming years. When you enroll in a post-trade school, you’ll realize that most of the trades in the school cannot be outsourced. Remember, don’t pursue an outsourceable trade school career since it will make you vulnerable to wage cuts.

Having a trade skill is a huge bonus since they’re internationally accepted. This means you can easily land a job overseas. However, licensing and regulation vary depending on the country you visit.

Specializations

Specialization in a specific trade makes you relevant and allows you to earn more as a tradesperson. Once you’ve identified your field of specialization, continue learning to improve your skills.

Also, by specializing you can work in other fields. For example, as an electrician, you can work in the automotive industry fixing car audios or you can become a home entertainment expert.

Be Part of Skilled Trades

Our modern society doesn’t seem to understand the importance of trade school careers. The younger generations believe that the only road to success is through a 4-year college, but that’s not the case.

If you want to avoid being trapped in huge college debt because you earned a degree for a job that no longer exists, then enroll for a trade school career.

Select a new skill that’s priceless, it will never become obsolete. Furthermore, a trade school career will offer you a sense of fulfillment since you’ll not only make money but also solve real-world problems.