High-Paying Trade Jobs Sit Empty, While High School Grads Line Up For University

[playplayaj]

I'm a teacher and i pull in 50k..I'm happy. I have no desire for skilled labor. I teach music and I love it. I get payed to play drums and horns all day.... It's my passion. I would rather do that than working just for the money

 

[Noriega]

On any kids I ever have, there’s brehs in my local pullin in over 200k yearly with overtime workin at fukkin universities and hospitals

These clowns think it’s grunt work, which some of it is but it more so problem solving and ‘putting out fires’ so tosoeak hence why we work for mechanical engineering contractors

Man you can’t forget lot of these cats live in states with weak union presence( southern states, out west) so when we talk bout big union dollars it like to them. Chicago and NYC some of the last cities in the nation where unions still got everything on lock.

I was looking at union laborer jobs down in Louisiana , they journeyman rate is the same for a second year apprentice up here

Man you try to give nikkas the blueprint to earn a great living+ great benefits with a little hard physical work and they start spewing nonsense & straight up BS.

But if this was a IT thread or coding Thread they’d be all up in it

 

[player611]

Man you can’t forget lot of these cats live in states with weak union presence( southern states, out west) so when we talk bout big union dollars it like to them. Chicago and NYC some of the last cities in the nation where unions still got everything on lock.

I was looking at union laborer jobs down in Louisiana , they journeyman rate is the same for a second year apprentice up here

Man you try to give nikkas the blueprint to earn a great living+ great benefits with a little hard physical work and they start spewing nonsense & straight up BS.

But if this was a IT thread or coding Thread they’d be all up in it

Yeah the unions are no joke. I'm an apprentice plumber in the local here in Chicago and our TEACHERS are pulling in around $100,000 a year. Guys who did well out in the field but couldn't work due to injuries or just wanted to pass on the knowledge. So $100,000 for what's a essentially a mix between a blue and white collar job, plus the benefits and the pension.

Dudes in here thinking you have to do the physical labor for your entire life. Put in work for a few years, take advantage of the networking and extra classes that unions provide and you can become a Buisness Agent ($150,000+) a year, an inspector ($58 an hour) or maybe work for OSHA. All jobs that don't require physical labor but are highly paid. shyt, you could get an associates and get into construction management. There's way too much money to be made with trade jobs outside of the grunt work. Many of us are out there doing it because we love what we do, but like I said, theyret not for everyone and I get that. We need the engineers, IT guys, safety guys, etc almost just as much as the world needs us.

 

[K.Dot]

My Trade school had IT, that's what I did. Best decision of my life tbh.

 

[drugxglory]

People want stability. They parents are telling not tp dp jobs like that. Iron workers get laid off.

Yeah shyt crazy cuz i had got laid off my job doing iron work 2 yrs ago, told me i was gon b the first they called back when it picked back up...

Nahh, never happened

 

[Noriega]

Yeah shyt crazy cuz i had got laid off my job doing iron work 2 yrs ago, told me i was gon b the first they called back when it picked back up...

Nahh, never happened

You make enough money where you can chill the rest of the year and collect unemployment. Plus it’s other trades like plumber,electrician, machinist, etc that work year round no problem.

Yeah the unions are no joke. I'm an apprentice plumber in the local here in Chicago and our TEACHERS are pulling in around $100,000 a year. Guys who did well out in the field but couldn't work due to injuries or just wanted to pass on the knowledge. So $100,000 for what's a essentially a mix between a blue and white collar job, plus the benefits and the pension.

Dudes in here thinking you have to do the physical labor for your entire life. Put in work for a few years, take advantage of the networking and extra classes that unions provide and you can become a Buisness Agent ($150,000+) a year, an inspector ($58 an hour) or maybe work for OSHA. All jobs that don't require physical labor but are highly paid. shyt, you could get an associates and get into construction management. There's way too much money to be made with trade jobs outside of the grunt work. Many of us are out there doing it because we love what we do, but like I said, theyret not for everyone and I get that. We need the engineers, IT guys, safety guys, etc almost just as much as the world needs us.

I’m assuming you in local 130? I should’ve took the test in January but I’m not the best in math, probably would’ve failed

 

[player611]

You make enough money where you can chill the rest of the year and collect unemployment. Plus it’s other trades like plumber,electrician, machinist, etc that work year round no problem.

I’m assuming you in local 130? I should’ve took the test in January but I’m not the best in math, probably would’ve failed

Yes sir. And really you just need to brush up on your 3rd/4th grade math. If you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers, fractions, and decimals, you'll be set. The most advanced math you'll need to know is trig, but it's easier than you think. I highly suggest you try next year. It's way too much new construction going on in the city, plus all the journeyman planning on retiring within the next 5-10 years, subcontractors are going to need replacements.

They just raised the hourly wage for everyone too. First 6 months you're making $17 an hour. At month 7 you're making $18, then at month 13, you're at $21 I think. If you're lucky enough to get in right out of highschool, you'd be making more money than your parents more than likely at 22. That's absurd.

 

[player611]

Yeah shyt crazy cuz i had got laid off my job doing iron work 2 yrs ago, told me i was gon b the first they called back when it picked back up...

Nahh, never happened

I respect Ironworkers because they stick together more than any other trade I've seen. The work is super hard on your body though and unless you live in a city with a lot of new construction going on, you're more than likely going to be laid off. Sorry to hear that and it's another harsh reality of trade jobs. It isn't all sweet, but depending on the trade, if you know how to hustle, network, and market yourself, the phone rings as soon as word gets around that you got laid off. I'm talking hours before you're working again.

 

[Noriega]

Yes sir. And really you just need to brush up on your 3rd/4th grade math. If you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers, fractions, and decimals, you'll be set. The most advanced math you'll need to know is trig, but it's easier than you think. I highly suggest you try next year. It's way too much new construction going on in the city, plus all the journeyman planning on retiring within the next 5-10 years, subcontractors are going to need replacements.

They just raised the hourly wage for everyone too. First 6 months you're making $17 an hour. At month 7 you're making $18, then at month 13, you're at $21 I think. If you're lucky enough to get in right out of highschool, you'd be making more money than your parents more than likely at 22. That's absurd.

I’m in the Laborers union right now, first year apprentice is $22.10, Journeyman tops out at $41.20

Im just waiting to get placed with a contractor at the moment but if shyt falls through with this I’ll definitely test with 130 next go around.

I heard those Irish cacs in 130 real hateful tho

 

[player611]

I’m in the Laborers union right now, first year apprentice is $22.10, Journeyman tops out at $41.20

Im just waiting to get placed with a contractor at the moment but if shyt falls through with this I’ll definitely test with 130 next go around.

I heard those Irish cacs in 130 real hateful tho

Lol I wouldn't know much about that. I work in a pretty small shop and do small to medium sized jobs. We're all pretty cool but I'm the only black dude and my journeyman is half Hispanic and native American. Maybe I'm one of the lucky few who hasn't experienced the racism yet, but as more of us trickle into these unions, and the old white racists retire, it'll be a more welcoming environment for us. My goal is to get my reputation high enough so I can get more of us (male and female) in there and pass on my knowledge.

How long have you been waiting to get placed? How long have you been in the trade?

 

[EndDomination]

Trades aren’t abundant everywhere, there are definitely markets in need of more tradespeople and if the boomers actually retire, that need will likely increase.
The choice for a whole lot of people isn’t trades or college, and Black people in the US are still massively underrepresented in both trades and college.
I’d push for both, especially since Black kids who are in urban schools often choose to do neither.

 

[Noriega]

Lol I wouldn't know much about that. I work in a pretty small shop and do small to medium sized jobs. We're all pretty cool but I'm the only black dude and my journeyman is half Hispanic and native American. Maybe I'm one of the lucky few who hasn't experienced the racism yet, but as more of us trickle into these unions, and the old white racists retire, it'll be a more welcoming environment for us. My goal is to get my reputation high enough so I can get more of us (male and female) in there and pass on my knowledge.

How long have you been waiting to get placed? How long have you been in the trade?

I’m 19, just graduated high school last year.

Applied back in February.. took the aptitude and drug test last month, passed just waiting for the call I got a call from a demolition company but guys have told me demolition is a bad specialty to get into so I passed on it.

I’m trying to get in the sewer and tunnel(laborers local 2)specialty, they work hand in hand with plumbers. Any info you can spit to me

 

[Deflatedhoopdreams]

Most these young kids aren't word 2cents on a physical job.

 

[O.T.I.S.]

I honestly been saying this shyt.

I went to a trade school and went into the military right after that.

I went to college while I was in, but didn’t get a BA or anything special. I got experience in my field, made some money, and now I have the option to go back to school and get paid for it on top job offers, I’m not in bad shape if I want to get more degrees or more certs (which in my field, certs are more important honestly).

I got a 60k starting job offer last week that I just did interviews for. They didnt even ask about my certs. I did 2 interviews for about 2 hours, was asked situational questions (that I crushed), and now they trying to fly me out next week for face to face.

no questions about my certs or degrees but they know I’m got shyt, getting more, offered to pay for my schooling, told me the possibility of advancing, etc.,


And this isn’t the first time, I’ve had similar job offers I’ve turned down

 

[semicko82]

So what's the first step if you want to get in the trades

Bump