This weekend I finished another excellent book about our
economy, and how we might recover from recession.  One of the suggestions was that we should
become better educated, as a society.  To
bolster that point, the author talked about college graduation rates, and the
limited prospects for non-college-graduates who end up with low paying service
jobs.




Where are the trades, in that writer's mind?




I can just hear the answer now . . . Trades?  What are trades?




All too often, writers divide the world of work into
"educated and professional" labor performed by college graduates, and "minimum
wage service work" performed by the unwashed masses; those of us who did not
make it out of college or perhaps even out of high school.




That depiction does a great disservice to our young people
as they contemplate their future career paths. 
For the trades still offer tremendous opportunity, and they are
overlooked more and more today.




So what are the trades, you ask?  Trades are specialized jobs that are taught
by doing.  People who work in the trades
use both their hands and their minds to reason through problems and produce tangible
results.  In years past you learned a
trade by being an apprentice.  Today, you
might learn a trade at a trade school, or academy.  And some apprentice programs still
exist. 




Examples of trades are:

Carpenter

Auto, truck, or airplane mechanic

Computer service technician

Medical equipment service technician

Plumber

Electrician

Heavy equipment operator




All of those jobs require substantial skill that is
developed through both study and practice, and all have different levels.  One starts out at low wages as an apprentice,
while masters make as much as most people in "professional" jobs.




The next step up from being a master is to own a small
business that employs other tradesmen. Examples are my auto service company, or
a local electrical contractor.  Owners of
successful trade business can make as much or more money than even high-level
professionals, like doctors or lawyers.




Yet the path to success does not generally pass through a
college and it is often overlooked.




There are three hundred million people here in America.  It's tradesmen who construct the places where
we live.  Tradesmen bring us the electric
power, and the plumbing.   Tradesmen fix
our cars and trucks.  The beauty of the
trades is that they are not going anywhere. 
No one is outsourcing those jobs to India or China. 




It's true that the trades change.  The job of fixing cars has changed
tremendously over the past twenty years, as has the job of wiring a house or
even installing plumbing.  But everything
changes.  We all have to learn and adapt.




In some cases, fewer workers are needed in a given
area.  Construction trades are a good
example of that today.  With the housing
collapse, we have a surplus of tradesmen who know how to work new
construction.  Yet we still have jobs in
other trades, like auto repair, and we even have jobs for carpenters, plumbers
and electricians in repair and maintenance. 





I find working on things I can pick up and handle very
satisfying.  I know many other tradesmen
feel the same.  I like to fix something,
see it work, and know it's a job well done. 
That sense of personal connection and satisfaction is missing in all too
many jobs today.




Tradesmen keep our world running.  When your lights go out, you don't turn to an investment banker for help.




So why are the trades overlooked and dismissed?  Maybe it's time for a second glance . . .
(c) 2007-2011 John Elder Robison