That's neat but I don't think this is really a positive thing, it just shows people are desperate. Many people have left and are still leaving the trades because for many positions the pay is subpar, the work has many health hazards and cuts 10-20 years off your lifespan and quality of living, the hours are long, and the industry is boom and bust constantly and unstable.

I see people hem and haw about trades and how "great" they are all the time, but as someone who has worked in trades for the last 15 years, not nearly as many people can handle it or like it as they think. Many people heard about their cousin or friend who broke $100K doing trade work, but what they fail to mention is they did that by working 90 hours a week every week all year to do it. They don't mention how they kept working through injury and now they will feel it the rest of their life. And they don't mention or haven't been working long enough to feel the bust between the booms when they are either taking jobs that only earn $5 an hour, or just don't have enough work for full hours.

Yes we need trade workers, but there has never been a lack of trade workers, only a lack of pay. I know far more people that have left trades than have joined. Many liked the physical work, but couldn't justify the health costs on top of the poor or unstable pay.

100%. I feel like the Mike Rowe style agitation to divert people from college into the trades is, to some extent, an effort to increase competition for these jobs to depress wages. If you work in the trades the last thing you should want is an army of people trying to join your profession.

Also culturally a lot of people look down on people who work with their hands.

The median outcome for someone baseline reliable & skilled but doesn't have the inclination to run a business is OK but usually not great.

I believe if you’re in a trade and not making minimum of 100K you’re doing it wrong.

Nearly every skilled trade costs at least 100$ an hour for their labor, often far more. Yes even in West Virginia or Mississippi. Stop getting scammed by working for someone else and work for yourself.

Trades are so lucky too in that it’s hard for normies to evaluate the quality of their work - so you can make tons of money while still being really shitty at it.