Industry challenges, jobsite particulars, risk factors and other elements aside, one of the largest contributing factors to our labor shortage is an enduring myth that a career in the trades can’t lead to a comfortable life.

We can trace it back at least as far as the 1970s, when “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe says a guidance counselor adamantly argued against anything other than a four-year degree, pointing out a poster that depicted a beaten-down, blue-collar worker next to a bright-eyed college graduate above the phrase, “Work Smart NOT Hard.” 

Then, the No Child Left Behind Act’s passage in 2001 labeled career and technical education (CTE, or shop class as many may recall) courses as “noncore,” notes Site Selection magazine. Without support (or budget), it was just a matter of time before these classes were phased out almost entirely. 

In fact, according to the National Center of Education Statistics, from 1990 to 2009, CTE credits earned by public high school graduates declined by up to 4 percent. Without these courses in the education system, how are students supposed to feel confident that a trades career is a good investment for their future? 

Yet the evidence is overwhelming that these paths aren’t just viable, they can be quite fulfilling and lucrative. The national average salary of a plumber is $73,441 per year, and an HVAC technician can earn an average of $57,602 per year, according to Indeed. Since these careers very often come without the overwhelming burden of student loan debt, truly nobody should be discouraged from finding purpose in a life built literally by hand. 

We’re not all meant to be white-collar business professionals, after all — and our infrastructure relies on the trades. Wall Street’s most powerful investment bankers don’t have a building to buy and sell stocks in without them.

CTE Comeback

So, how do we combat this unnecessary and damaging war on labor? How do we create a culture in America, never mind everywhere else, that sees, respects and admires the skill and value offered to the wider world by the skilled trades? How do we secure a future where accepting a position with a major electrical or mechanical contractor is as thrilling an announcement as a job offer from a prestigious law firm? 

It begins with an emphasis on access to training and education for all: school-age, college-age, professional adult, current members of the trades, everyone. Thankfully, a cursory Google search demonstrates that shop class is enjoying a comeback. Labor shortages across the skilled trades have shed light on the need to layer CTE back into the education system and rethink how we discuss careers outside a four-year-degree track. 

School districts partner with local contractors across the country, such as the partnership Harris Co. has with Lake Street Works in Minnesota. Contractors nationwide offer apprenticeship and training programs, and high school children should be encouraged to work for a contractor over the summer. What a great way to determine if the trades are a good fit without committing to a full-time job or enrolling in a program! 

Plus, an established contractor’s recommendation letter will certainly put a little pepper on an aspiring employee’s resume. We need to discuss these opportunities openly and often; nobody should have to look hard to find support that’s supposed to be readily available. 

These conversations about opportunities for education, mentorship and career development need to continue beyond the high school and even trade school level. Veterans transitioning from military service into the construction industry can take advantage of programs such as Trane’s Combat to Controls or the Helmets to Hardhats program. The Smart Buildings Academy offers a range of certificate programs to support a career in building automation and controls. 

Even major home improvement retailers such as the Home Depot offer programs to support adult job seekers with its Path to Pro program. Why is this not common knowledge or advertised with the same intensity as corporate internship programs?

Relationship Building 

From there, let’s not understate the importance of learning from the professionals who were here before us, as well as those with us right now. I remember learning the value of a tape measure and hammer from my dad. We would take on weekend projects in the garage with various hand tools. In those sessions, I learned not only everything my dad knew but also everything my dad had learned from his dad. None of that experience and skill came out of a handbook or from a training video. 

A great swath of knowledge and experience in the skilled trades is about to be lost forever. According to skilled labor staffing agency Skillwork, the rate of baby boomers retiring to Millennial or Gen Z workers entering the business is 5:2. Those numbers tell a sad story about the likelihood that the knowledge of yesterday’s masters will pass to tomorrow’s leaders. We need to hold ourselves accountable for preserving knowledge, requiring us to get better at writing things down.

Finally, relationship building must take a front seat. Inter-generational warfare will be a nail in the coffin for an industry already struggling to fill every vacant job. It’s simply not reasonable to expect the next generation to respect anyone who came before them if they’re met with dismissal and derision for their perspectives and ideas by the “Old Guard.” 

Just as we must hold those newer to the job accountable for respecting and learning a trade that’s been around longer than they’ve been alive, we must hold ourselves accountable to create and maintain an environment to encourage these new professionals to do what they do best: innovate. 

Winning the labor war is a matter of controlling the narrative, so it’s time we all became better storytellers. 

Mike Nelsen is a plant manager at Harris Co.