I’m a huge fan of Mike Rowe’s attitude.
Years ago, I lost my job due to the economy. I fed my family by doing lots of handyman work and house painting.
One of my kids just graduated college as an aerospace engineer. His first summer home, he said he needed to find a job. I told him a buddy of mine needed a grunt for his home remodeling company. Within an hour, he was heading toward the jobsite. He worked for him for two summers and learned lifetime skills.
Another son has no interest at all in college and wants to do a trade. 100% support. He’s 18 and just got his Class A CDL to drive semi’s. He has a summer commitment and already has a job lined up in August making over $45,000. A buddy of his works for his uncle’s heavy equipment company. Someone else just offered him $16 an hour to come work for him.
Drug free tradesmen are in a position to almost name their price.
That's the situation here in north Florida. The market for the trades is so tight that HVAC business owners on local radio stations plead for motivated high school grads to apprentice.