Mike Holmes on Skilled Trades

Why don't we have enough people getting into the trades?
I've personally comes across some people that think the skilled trades are lesser jobs, that it's the people who couldn't get into college that got into the trades. But let me tell you the trades are very fulfilling careers with great pay and endless opportunities —not to mention you need to have a lot of skills like math, business, and communication.

[nautiiboyz]

I have several trades under my belt with my main being a licensed HVAC tech which i’m no longer doing. Truth is there are Long hours, low pay, no respect for entry level tradesmen. The trades are in the toilet. And the internet is powerful, younger folks are getting into tech because you make 6 figures not doing physical labor

[EmilyGloeggler]

As a former trade worker, you couldn’t be more wrong. It doesn’t work for everyone, even when they pay well. Have no fear to admit those jobs don’t work for you and move on. Even Jesus quit being a carpenter to go on to do the best work yet. :)

[TC-nhuh]

The trades are a fast track to a miserable existence with no quality of life and financial stress. I’m an electrician apprentice and both the pay and culture are laughable. Everyone I work with is broke, uneducated, and miserable. and despite hating their jobs they beg for overtime in a desperate attempt to make a little more “not enough money.”

It’s a damn shame because I really had good intentions coming back at 35 but I seriously can’t believe people live like this. The unions are an absolute joke.

I had a dumbass at union seriously trying to break down how I could buy a house, if I save the .35 cent raise they negotiated to get in 3 years lol


Plus the jobs are awful. 90 percent boring. 5 percent tedious. 5 percent dangerous.

Trades are important but people need to stand up for themselves. The unions are a joke. They exploit uneducated people to extract their money to use for political self interest.

[Mr.Kittles]

I broke my back for my trades as a licensed plumber and gasfitter. WCB denied all of my injury claims, so I abandoned my career to begin a bachelors degree at the age of 35. Skilled trades workers have no future because of WCB’s entrenched “culture of denial”. Good parents keep their children away from the exploitation of skilled trades. Stay in school kids!

[nick]

The worst part about the trades is the ither people, some of these guys in their 40s and 50s have no patience for new guys and they just blow a gasket when a mistake is made. How is anyone supposed to learn like that ? Thats another reason no young people are joining the trades

[CK]

From what I’ve seen it looks like construction companies are giving work to illegal immigrants for lower pay. Roofing, carpentry, concrete work. All immigrants in my area with these types of construction jobs. If your planning to join a trade, your better off being in a secure trade that does both new construction and service work (Electricians, Plumbers, and HVAC) because English is a MUST speaking to customers, bilingual is also a plus if your in a heavily Hispanic area!

[melodigrand]

For the most part employers are not hiring trade school graduates. Employers are not hiring apprentices or providing on the job skills training. Employers are only hiring skilled workers who were trained by some other employer. Employers have no plan for addressing the skills gap. There are a few programs where the state or federal government has paid employers to take on apprentices or trainees. This is probably the only answer, billions of dollars to subsidize employers to underwrite the cost of on the job training of skilled workers.

[bradystuckey]

Pretty easy to figure out where I live. Everyone wants experience, school is about 16k still, and even with experience, it's a dice roll on getting hired.

Even if you do get hired, you make so little money for how much your body gets destroyed.

[Gotchatwice]

Trades are dead who wants to work from morning to night

[rustym.shackelford]

The Trades: "NOBODY WANTS TO
Me: "I want to" *has 1 year of experience from trade school*
The Trades: YOU GOTTA HAVE 2 YEARS OF PRIOR EXPERIENCE TO WORK THIS JOB YOU LAZY SOD!"

[kurtiscalmsetccdwell]

Quit hazing, gatekeeping, and rude people in the trades from chasing off the newcomers and you'll solve the problem

[KCLocalSkaters]

Ive been a bricklayer apprentice for a year now and I actually enjoy learning the trade. I show up early everyday and work hard and push myself. Its just that alot of foreman dont care about you learning and getting experience on the wall. theyll use you as cheap labor (hodcarrying, building scaffold, running the saw) and then when you turn out as a journeyman you cant find a job because you dont have experience actually laying brick. They say you gotta fight to lay brick. So I do and i get on the wall but then once your on the wall you always have some old guy next to you chewing you out and playing mind games, saying how much harder they had it back in their day. not actually teaching you. Thats when i get pissed off and tell them to fuck off. because if you dont, theyll ride your ass all day. So at the end of the day they just make it harder for me to learn. So yea, i see why young guys dont want to work in the trades. But Im sticking with the trade because im a stubborn SOB and im gonna do my best to change things for the next generation. And im not the only one with that idea, theres just not many of us.

[yamchayaku]

I worked in the trades for several years before I went into tech. Used to be part of a group that flipped and resold homes, meaning I re-built deteriorating parts of old homes so they can be livable again. Wanna know why no one wants to work in the trades? The older people in the business are real pieces of work. They have the mentality of "I struggled to figure it out, so now you have to". This means they really won't teach you squat. Their way of thinking is the reason why a lot of the trades are going backwards and a lot of knowledge is being lost. The people already in it don't want to teach you the "secrets" as if there were any to begin with.

[Kcke-fjof]

i think something thats missing from the conversation is that companies dont train like they used to. the current paradigm consists of running on skeleton crews and cutting corners/staffing as much as possible. this means that things like training start being treated as though theyre money sinks instead of investments, and the expectation becomes that new hires will come to the table with skills that are in demand. this is why you have a bunch of old heads wondering where the young blood is, its because the old heads *have those skills*, they have the connections as well, they can get those jobs because they *are* in demand. young men who don't have extensive resumes just dont have the same opportunities they used to in this field, unfortunately

[itsrelativ]

Born in '87. My father was self taught in home improvement projects but his day job was in health. He beat it into my head to not get into the trades because I'd never be able to properly be a husband and father due to the eratic work hours.

[ewwtv]

Stay away from trades young people! No job security, you literally have to hope someone hires you for a job. Then they try to negotiate the cheapest price. Your body gets worn out, no regular income. Listen to an ex carpenter who fell for the bullshit.
I now own a fast food business earning good money and it’s fun

[Sigmacenturion]

"not to mention you need to have a lot of skills like math, business, and communication." Must be lacking in the Hiring and Payroll departments given the inability for these jobs to attract new workers.

[mastert]

Trades are dangerous, your body will break down over time. You'll be using the portable washroom, eating out of your truck, being dirty, and loneliness. Screw that lifestyle.

[Bruhsidon]

Unpopular comment here most likely. I disagree to a point. I get peoples points about long hours and not being home but thats more industrial. I made the switch from being an industrial electrician living that life to a residential electrician at an hvac company. It is physical but not back breaking and im getting industrial rate still. I personally enjoy it, it keeps me in shape, like how some people go to the gym, also i get around 80k per year and i dont even work a full 40 hours per week usually. Get to see my family every day, im happy, but i understand its not for everyone. Each to their own. Oh an also, working with your hands, you WILL be able to save a fk ton on doing your own DIYs at home.

[TheHitman]

I went to my local community college and got a degree in electrical/electronics. When I got out of school no contractors would hire me because I didn’t have the work experience nor was I a master electrician. The only job I was able to land finally after 3-4 after college was a school electrical maintenance position paying $16.84/hr. The trades aren’t always worth it and don’t guarantee a good wage paying job, at least not here in southeastern Kentucky where wages are terrible.