If Blue Collar Jobs Suck... Why Do People Do Them?

I miss working concrete 🥲

Check out our last videos 👇
"Why Is Buying an Old Truck a Genius Idea?"

"Every New Bar Is the Same... And I Hate It"

[leonardciavarella]

I got a job in a body shop, when I was 17. Graduated HS. Boss asked me if I was interested in full time work. Said, heck yes. Been an auto body repair guy for 23 years now. 2 cars. 3 kids. A house. All that shit!

[ItsSympl]

I think when everyone has a college degree, nobody has a college degree. They’re completely devalued.

[hunterbooth]

If blue collar jobs were more willing to stick to a 40 hour schedule I would be so happy. Working 6 days a week has lead me to burnout so many times.

[HowKiwi]

I work in IT, I make a good paycheck and love my job. But I’ll be damned if I don’t find myself daydreaming about turning a wrench or hammering a nail from time to time. Love the video. We need more blue collar appreciation. Keep up the good work!

[LobsterFusion]

I always liked warehouse work. Driving a forklift, getting parts to machinists. It's physical and keeps me in shape without destroying my body.

[VitoIsPuffBunny]

I quit a sales job to do blue collar work and I am so much happier for it.

[WinterWonderer]

coming home, chilling with my dog and drinking a cold beer after a good day of work and being proud of the work i do. its the simple things that make life enjoyable.

[themitchster]

I’m a career firefighter (24h on/48h off), side gig, I’m a framer. The wonderful thing about blue collar jobs is not only the skills you learn on the jobsite, shop, fireground, etc is that they become absolutely essential at home! You can build that fence, fix that sink, do your own car repairs, remodel a room, etc. it also keeps you in shape if you are smart about it. An office job m-f sounds absolutely miserable to me. Thanks for the video!

[acevedo]

I am happy to say I've done both. Getting experience in the field and the office opened my eyes and gave me a better idea on everything. I think a lot of people fail at realizing there is so much to learn and you will never truly know everything.

[blaiselorenzen]

I’m a carpenter in the Midwest. I work with plenty of people with college degrees. I have a GED and no debt. Crazy how we end up in the same places.

[bradkamphaus]

I've been doing blue collar work for almost 10 years now and I think it's important to note that not every industry pays well. I was a motorcycle mechanic for a while and barely got paid above minimum wage. The boring/ less desirable jobs pay way better. I recently started delivering and installing appliances and it's crazy how much more I get paid for an easier job!

[Michael-pfn]

I think the problem isn’t white collar vs blue collar. It’s big business vs small business.

The reason blue collar jobs are fulfilling is because they’re usually a small business. The benefit of working at a small business is that you are more likely to get rewarded for your increased effort. Whereas if you’re a white collar worker at some corporation you’re basically invisible.

I think if everyday you went to work pouring concrete surrounded by 500 other concrete workers and at the end of the day had to respond to an email saying you completed your work, you’d very quickly become disengaged. Now pour that same concrete into that same hole for 30 years.

[SneakyOrange-bl]

6:37 instead of a printer to beat up, take your rage out on the new guy who forgot to charge up the Milwaukee batteries 😂

[myst_rain]

As an engineer I agree. Mentally exhausted most of the time and the pay isn’t what it’s hyped up to be.

[eddwiceestivene]

I work Blue collar job for 2 years now . The money part is a blessing I make good money. But what I come to see after two years working construction is the industry cut throat, alot of jealousy, alot of foul plays, alot of manipulations behind scenes.

[rekeembelac]

But the bottom of the latter of blue collar jobs really is the worst of the worst. A lot of people know what I’m talking about when you take that job of a guy you know who happens to be always hiring but there’s only a 4 man crew of felons and addicts. Get paid cash with nothing else on top, everything is unorganized. Your boss is under the impression you’re going to quit eventually so you get overworked in the least amount of hours.

Being 28 and having a couple years experience in a couple different trades a bit at a time I’m finally getting out of that type of work but man, during those times. I’d much rather be doing something in an office than doing mindless labor for an a hole learning nothing but how life sucks lol.

[richardfoster]

I started out at 18 driving farm trucks. Got a CDL, then got a dump truck job. I used to make enough to live on for a year with 9 months of work doing that. Getting to relax in winter when the weather was bad, back to work in the spring. But doing dump truck also led to opportunities to run heavy equipment. Eventually I learned to run excavator and got to where i could dig in my sleep. Learned everything from land clearing to drainage, road building, septic systems, and so on. Eventually I bought my own excavator and went into business. I got a septic installer license and became the top septic installer in my county. Eventually I got tired of the Pacific Northwest, so I sold my equipment and my house last year and spent 4 months traveling the US with my family in our RV. Now we have a place in Arizona and I'm in the process of forming another business. Never having student loans enabled me to buy a family sized house on 5 acres in my 20s. And with a tradesman background I was able to do most maintenance and improvements myself and save thousands. But being able to buy a house young because of starting work full time at 18 and not having student loans meant that by the time a lot of people my age were buying a house (if they were able) i already had 400k of equity in mine. If you get good at trade and have some business acumen, being blue collar will definitely lead you to success.

[stwida]

White collar worker here. Plenty of overgeneralizations on both sides in this video.

Not every white collar job is soul-sucking, meaningless work.
Not every blue collar worker cares about doing "an honest day's work".

At the end of the day, the individual controls their own destiny. I know blue collar workers who bust their ass to make it to the top. I know white collar workers who are fine with being an "analyst" on the bottom of the totem pole their entire lives. I know blue collar workers who do their best to find every way possible to do as little manual labor as possible throughout the day. I know white collar workers who put the needs of their individual team members above the bullshit corporate propoganda and are willing to die on that hill (lose their jobs) fighting for what they believe in.

Everyone's situation is different, from their individual jobs, to what they personally believe in.

The "Us vs Them" mentality is what holds everyone back in this country. Blue Collar vs White Collar... Democrats vs Republicans... y'all too busy bitching at each other to make any progress.

[Anonym-dxtp]

I have a pretty clear stance when it comes to the whole “trade school vs. college” debate — especially when it comes to my close friends and my brothers. My advice is always: Pay attention in school and go to college if you have the opportunity. At the end of the day, you don’t want to break your back until you’re 50, while someone else, who might’ve spent every weekend partying, skated by with a 2.5 GPA, got a mediocre Business Administration degree, and now sits comfortably in an air-conditioned office making just as much — or even more — than you.

Of course, I’m not saying you should study just anything. It’s important to choose fields that have a future, are in demand, and genuinely interest you — like engineering, medicine, or law. These are the areas where knowledge pays off, and the effort you put into school can really lead to a successful career.

A lot of people who went into trades didn’t really have much of a choice. Many of them had responsibilities early on and had to step up and support their families. They often went into trades because it was the most practical option. And even now, they know it’s not an easy life. That’s why so many of them push their kids to go to college, saying, “Son, go to school and do well, so you don’t have to do the same backbreaking job I’m doing.”

I remember this one construction worker I met on-site. It was a Saturday morning, 9 AM, and already 90 degrees. He looked at me and said, “Stay in school, so you don’t end up like me, laying bricks under the sun when you’re 50.” And he said it right in front of an apprentice working alongside him.

And then there was this other time at school. The city came to promote their trade school programs and dual-degree options. A 40 year old guy stood up and said, “See, you can get pretty far even without a college degree.” Sure, that’s true in some cases. But then a friend leaned over to me and whispered, “Yeah, but that guy took 20 years to get where the young girl in her early 20s got in just three years with her Bachelor’s.”

And that’s the reality. There are plenty of people with a 2.5 GPA and a mediocre Business Administration degree who barely tried, yet they’re now working comfortably in an office. Meanwhile, others who are just as smart — or even smarter — are stuck in exhausting jobs because they didn’t make the right decision.

That’s why I tell my brothers and my friends: Stay focused in school, choose a path with real opportunities, and make the most of the chances you get.

[Illneverusethis]

Comercial hvac, Union, $68 an hour, no debt, high-school dropout and no college. Got into it after 8 years in the army as a heavy weapons mechanic. Love my current job and employer.