So you think you could be an electrician?
A former tradesman deconstructs the popular narrative urging young people to abandon college for lucrative, AI-proof skilled trades, highlighting physical toll and economic realities.
read it This nuanced critique of the trades by a former builder offers a grounded counterpoint to common white-collar tech narratives.
summary
The essay dismantles the popular narrative that young people should abandon college for high-paying, AI-proof skilled trades. Drawing on personal experience as a former apprentice, the author argues that trades involve severe physical risks, lower average career earnings than college degrees, and strict internal hierarchies. Furthermore, technological innovation and future AI integration will likely continue to reshape labor needs in physical domains. Ultimately, career advice should account for individual aptitudes and realistic assessments of risks rather than simplistic morality tales.
key points
- Causal economic research demonstrates that four-year college degrees still provide substantial lifetime earnings premiums over non-degree paths.
- Skilled trades carry significant risks of chronic physical injury, disability, and mortality that desk jobs largely avoid.
- Historical technological shifts in construction and trades have consistently bypassed manual dexterity, indicating AI will impact physical labor as well.
who should read it
Tech professionals and white-collar workers looking for a grounded reality check on popular career advice regarding the trades.
discussion positive
consensus
Commenters largely validate the author's real-world insights regarding physical toll, safety risks, and the stark divide between elite union positions and lower-tier blue-collar work.
pushback
A minority of commenters push back by sharing personal anecdotes where sharp problem-solving skills quickly transitioned them out of basic grunt work into lucrative technical roles.
I've done manual labor in both construction and at a lumber mill.
Invariably, the following happened:
- I was given grunt work as a I was the new/junior guy
- Did this for about 1.5 weeks
- After the above, someone (usually the owner's wife) would say something like: "Instead of Alex doing grunt work, why doesn't he helps us <fix technology thing>"
And that ranged from "order us a new computer" to "fix the North American Controls lumber sorter machine".
My point is: Being able to solve complex problems is a surprisingly transferable skill. It's so transferable that even in the trades, …
It provides a firsthand perspective on how transferable problem-solving ability allows skilled workers to rapidly bypass entry-level physical labor.
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