Work Pro Tip 9: Worried About Future, Consider The Trades
If you’re young and scared about your future or you’re not young at all and still scared, here’s something worth hearing: the trades might be the smartest move you never considered.
Become an electrician. Or a plumber, or an HVAC tech, or a welder. Join the trades. It’s a better life and a better wage than most people realize, and it comes without a lot of the garbage that makes other jobs miserable.
Why the Trades Pay Off
There’s a shortage of skilled tradespeople right now. There is not a shortage of service workers. That imbalance is exactly why service jobs tend to be underpaid, disrespected, and full of people yelling at you over a latte. Scarcity drives value. When not many people can or will do a job, the ones who can get paid for it.
In the trades, you’re also likely to be in a union. That means a living wage, not just scraping by, but actually building something. It means real healthcare. It means being able to plan a future instead of just surviving the week.
Not Locked In For Life
Worried this means committing forever? It doesn’t have to. A solid trades job can fund community college, help you avoid crippling student debt, or at minimum cover rent, food, and books while you figure out your next move. It’s not a cage. It’s a foundation.
What About Being Accepted?
If you’re POC or LGBTQ+ and worried about running into bigots, they exist, no denying it. But most good companies don’t tolerate it, and most people in the trades are solid folks who care about two things: don’t get anyone hurt, and show up on time. That’s the real bar.
One of the toughest, most respected superintendents on a multi-story job site was a guy who’d break you in half if you weren’t safe, gave respect freely, and talked openly about his husband. Anyone who tried giving him grief over it picked the wrong fight.
The trades carry a different kind of economic power. And with it, a lot of respect, more than people expect.
A Friend’s Story
A friend, a lesbian, wanted to become an electrician but worried she wouldn’t be accepted. It took her about two days on the job to realize she was more than welcome, and that this dream was hers to have. Two years later, she bought her first house.
She passed away this past February, from breast cancer. But she lived her dream, with the person she loved by her side. That’s what economic stability can give you, the chance to actually live, not just get by.
It’s Never Too Late
This isn’t just advice for the young. Age in the trades isn’t a liability, it’s often an asset. Someone in their 40s who’s lived a little, who “gets” things, who brings a steady, aware presence to the job, tends to be valued more, not less.
A single parent in their 40s making this shift can maintain a two-bedroom home for themselves and their kid. That kind of stability, in this economy, is not a small thing. It’s worth calling what it is: a real, attainable path forward, for anyone feeling unstable or afraid of what’s ahead