Stories are a powerful thing. When it comes to skilled trades, we’ve all been telling the wrong one. Over the past several decades, there's been a common narrative driving our perception of blue-collar jobs — that they’re a nice backup plan for people who don’t want to go to college or can’t afford it. Even worse, America’s been telling itself that skilled trades aren’t worthy of our attention, filled with people who simply can’t cut it when it comes to “real” jobs.
At DECKED, we’re in the business of telling true stories, and that’s what we’re focused on today. We’ve been hard at work highlighting blue-collar badasses as our most essential workers. We’ve created an all-new series exploring its current state and its bright future. And we just wrapped a massive event at our factory, too, bringing together some of the brightest minds and hardest workers on the planet. But, just because we know it’s true, doesn’t mean that people will believe it.
So, we decided to back it up with some hard data. Our team reached out to 500 different folks in skilled trades (construction, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical) to get down to the nitty-gritty of what their career actually looks like. The results were downright surprising. They were also downright kickass.
Changing the narrative won’t happen quickly or easily, but we see every bit of truth as a small step towards the goal of putting our blue-collar workers back on the pedestal that they should’ve never been kicked off of (hell, they built the pedestal). Consider these takeaways the introduction to a new story. Spoiler alert: we think it’ll have a happy ending.
Better in the Black
The Numbers
73%
of skilled trades workers took on zero debt for trade school. Of the 27% who did borrow, 83% paid it off in 3 years or less.
55%-65%
of 4-year college graduates leave school with debt (averaging ~$29,560), with an average of 32 years to pay it off.
The Takeaway:
The goal here is not to sh*t on college — but the numbers don’t lie. Over the past 30 years, the cost of a four-year undergraduate degree has increased by almost 400% across the board, while salaries have only increased by a fraction of that amount, somewhere between 80% and 100%.
Whether we’re willing to admit it or not, a career in skilled trades is objectively a better financial move than going to college these days. Passions and dreams aside (more on that later), it’s making less sense to get a college degree and more sense to get into the workforce. You still need to go to trade school or get an apprenticeship in most cases, but those numbers run $3,500–$15,000 on average. College? An in-state, public college will run you about $124,000 as a starting point. Even we can understand that math.
Earn Early (And Often)
The Numbers
47% MORE
than the national median worker is what trade workers earn across the board.
20 Years
is the median age for trade school enrollment, and 21.5 years marks the median career start. By comparison, ~23 years old is the median age for completing a traditional U.S. bachelor's degree.
The Takeaway:
It seems like everyone’s freaking out about AI. Well, except for workers in the trades. Because while it's hard to say where technology is going to take us, it’s safe to say that the robots aren’t going to be framing your house or running your electrical any time soon.
For many of us, we’re simply riding the tornado to see where the AI uprising takes us, but if you’re someone who’s looking to start a new career in the face of uncertainty, skilled trades are one of the safest industries you can look to. A human being wrote this article (and another human being made him change a bunch of sh*t), but that’s quickly changing around the world. The truth is, blue-collar workers will be holding their hammers for a long time to come.
Set Up For Success
The Numbers
2
replacements for every 5 retiring workers is the current reality in the skilled trades.
3.5%
annual growth is making white-collar jobs increasingly crowded.
The Takeaway:
If those numbers don’t scare you, then you must not own a home, drink water, eat food, work in an office, or live on this planet. The fact of the matter is, we’re losing blue-collar jobs at an alarming rate and the industry is scrambling to find ways to incentivize the next generation to dive in head first (watch Episode 2 of our latest series to find out how).
So, why are we pointing this dismal number out? Because, if you work in the trades or are training to work in the trades, you should be wearing a big-ass smile on your face. The law of supply and demand is working hard in your favor and, if you remember those numbers of median wage, they’re going nowhere but up until we can bolster our blue-collar numbers.
The Love of the Trades
The Numbers
94%
of skilled trades workers report job satisfaction.
78%
of skilled trades workers feel that their work is undervalued.
The Takeaway:
This is the number that matters most. Bar none. We can talk all day about debt, financial stability, and workforce participation, but that amounts to a hill of beans if you hate your job. Here’s the truth: whether you recognize them or not, skilled trades workers are happy right where they are. Of course, the reason behind that number could mean a million different things. Maybe it is about the high pay and job opportunities. Maybe it’s about a bright future. Or maybe it’s because they’re damn good at their job.
The other side of the coin is that the rest of America doesn’t know how important skilled trades are — and how happy its workers are to be there for the heavy lifting. Whether you’re interested in a blue-collar career or not, it’s never been more important to recognize the importance of the work. It’s not called skilled trades for nothing. These people are highly intelligent, highly creative, and highly motivated — even if they don’t get recognition for it.
So, if you’re in the trades, thanks for doing what you do. If you’re not in the trades, maybe give them a “thanks” every now and then. If you’re raising little humans who are eventually going to pick a career, maybe read this article one more time. Stories may lie to you every now and then, but numbers won’t. And they’re adding up to blue collar every single time.
