There is a current cultural stigma surrounding traditional “blue-collar” jobs, which could have damaging effects on the upcoming workforce generation and America’s infrastructure.
However, the U.S. labor market is in desperate need of skilled tradespeople such as carpenters, construction laborers, stonemasons and electricians.
John Cataneco, a PeopleReady Skilled Trades representative recently told Fox News Digital that “we don’t have enough labor” for these kinds of positions, and data from their study shows an increase in demand for skilled trade workers of 23% from March to May alone.
This sudden surge likely comes from attempts to vertically integrate America’s supply chain after pandemic disruptions but there are other factors at play as well according to RedBalloon CEO Andrew Crapuchettes who spoke with Fox News Digital about this issue.
He noted how baby boomers have passed down a cultural stigma towards blue-collar work to younger generations who often prefer white-collar jobs instead due to being part of the “social media generation.”
Unfortunately, this lack of interest has led young people away from taking up blue-collar work despite its potential benefits such as not having to take on heavy student loans or learning important values such as hard work ethics and calluses that come along with chopping wood all day according to Crapuchettes.
The shortage of skilled workers has already caused an increase in housing prices due to lack of available labor and employers are also facing difficulty finding reliable candidates with only 10-30% showing up for interviews after applying online for these positions.
The solution? Paint a picture bigger than just earning a paycheck by highlighting meaningful aspects like building the future for your own family or even your community says Crapuchettes who encourages young people interested in blue-collar work to look into junior college programs combining modern computing technology with hands-on applications in order to help fill the gap left by retiring baby boomers while still being able to financially support themselves and their families without accumulating large amounts of debt.
6 Comments
As a retired welder/pipefitter in the utility industry; I saw this coming years ago. Not only have companies made these jobs less desirable by cutting benefits, such as retirement plans, but as the article said; kids don’t want to perform manual labor.
The electric utility I worked for had a program set up with all the tech schools and junior colleges in town, to allow tours of the power plants for students who might be interested. We had hundreds of students come through, and only had one taker for a job. I’m not saying that it isn’t hard work, but the pay was very good. That one student who took the job was gone within a week. Kids these days have no work ethic.
I don’t kniw what boomers you talked to but we boomers in general were and are all about blue collar trades as they are the backbone of this country. Blame this on the greedy executives and investors for selling us out to China and other sweat shops around the world.
Have you checked out Mike Rowe? He has a system in place where young people can get trained in the trades, by signing a contract that they will complete their courses with a required grade point average in return for having their training paid for, if I remember correctly. I think there are some more requirements, but I don’t remember exactly what they were, other than being common sense rules and learning to support yourself and be a model citizen.
Check out Mike Roew Works.
I don’t think this issue was passed down from baby boomers. Look at what the schools are indoctrinating them with… hate America, work ethic shot since they expect to get what they want for nothing… everyone else pay their school loans, they expect to start at the top of the ladder versus work their way up and no one is accountable for their actions. Not all young people are like this but way too many that have made a difference in our work force.
This has nothing to do with boomers and everything to do with the indoctrination of our children in schools.
Perfectly stated in a single sentence!