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MAKING THE TRADES MORE MAINSTREAM

5 minutes ago
3 min read

When you ask a little kid what they want to be when they grow up – or if you think of the careers that parents hope their kids will have – the list usually includes things like doctor, lawyer, teacher, firefighter, mom, dad. But there’s a new commercial out from Gerber that added one to the list, and it stopped me in my tracks when I saw it: Master Electrician.

Think about that. How cool would it actually be if your kid grew up to be a Master Electrician? Or a heavy equipment operator, roofer, or plumber? The message from the Gerber commercial is subtle, but it’s not small. It’s a really big deal to see Master Electrician listed alongside doctors, lawyers and firefighters.

While interest in the trades has been growing, there’s still a sizeable gap to fill between the labor pool and the demand for skilled workers. A recent study shows that interest in pursuing a trade career has doubled over the last ten years, but that still only accounts for six percent of adults ages 18-25.

From that study, here’s what’s even more interesting to me. The ones who were interested in the trades were also asked about the most important benefits of a career in the construction industry. The top answers were good pay, obtaining useful skills, and getting to work outside.

The fact that a college degree is not required was nearly at the bottom of the list. So many of us – myself included – have spent a lot of time and energy on that one point, and frankly, we’ve been leading with the wrong pitch. The fact is that the biggest benefits of working in the trades are not what you DON’T have to do, but what you DO get out of it. Good pay. Obtaining useful skills. Working outside.

So what is it we need to be telling our kids? How do we keep careers like Master Electrician on that list with the rest of the careers kids are dreaming of?

If things like good pay, obtaining useful skills and working outside are important to them, they need to know that trade careers offer all of those things. The working outside one really speaks to me – and likely to a lot of other kids who feel most like themselves when they’re able to get up and go. Work with their hands. Have a tangible finished project to look at, that they’ve worked hard to learn and do. And they get paid well to do it? Sounds pretty good to me.

Out of my own three kids, two have college degrees – but all three have been involved in the trades through our family business. I’d consider each of their paths successful, and I’m grateful for all of the opportunities they’ve had. I personally never went to college, and got my start in the electrical industry straight out of high school. College or not doesn’t matter here: it’s that we’ve all found something with good pay, where we’ve obtained useful skills, and some of us working outside.

The Gerber commercial was a start – and a really good one. But as we continue this conversation about the trade labor shortage, it’s time to focus more on what it looks like when you’re there, and less on what it takes to get there. Include things like electrician, roofer, heavy equipment operator in those conversations that start at age 5. Make it about what you get out of it, instead of what you avoid.