The Trades Do Not Stand Still
It is remarkable how fast technological progress has accelerated. It’s been only around 12 decades since the Wright Brothers traveled little more than a football field in the first manned flight. Since then, we’ve visited the moon and sent dozens of unmanned space craft to explore far reaches of our solar system. The trades have […]
College Enrollment Continues To Drop
Undergraduate student enrollment in the Spring of this year declined by more than 662,000 students or 4.7% from Spring 2021, according to a new report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. To date, the undergraduate student body has dropped by nearly 1.4 million students or 9.4% during the pandemic. The annual rate of decline […]
The Trades Give Customers Their Money’s Worth
I tune in to one of those online neighborhood chat groups where people often exchange referrals for various businesses. Almost every time someone asks the group to recommend a plumber or other trade provider, it is couched in terms such as: “One that charges a reasonable price.” They never seem to specify a “reasonable” price […]
Towards A Better Future
Many of you reading this already have jobs in other fields than the trades. But you’re reading it because you are dissatisfied with the way you now make a living. In some cases, you may feel underpaid and underappreciated. Others among you may simply be bored with the work you do. Or, maybe you’re idealistic […]
A Worthy Trade Alternative
Many of you reading this are in your late teens or early 20s. That is a prime age to enter training for a career in a skilled trade. The purpose of this blog is to help you, as the title of this website makes clear, to “explore the trades.” I’m going to depart from that […]
A Shortage Is About To Become A Crisis
In writing this blog, I follow a variety of construction news sources. Sometimes I need to read between the lines to develop the full meaning of what’s going on. That’s what happened when I came across a recent news story stating that the construction industry will need to attract nearly 650,000* additional workers on top of […]
The Joy of Physical Fitness
The trades have come a long way from the bad old days when so many tasks required brute force. Everything from power tools to material handling lifts make the jobs much easier than decades ago. Persons of any size or gender now can handle a trade career. Within reason. Although trade work is easier than […]
Are You An Entrepreneur?
That big French-sounding word in the headline refers to starting and owning your own business. It’s not an easy thing to do. Entrepreneurs who start a new business typically work 60 hours or more each week for years while earning modest income before success enables them to fully enjoy the fruits of their labor. Often, […]
Favorable Trends for the Trades
“Better to be lucky than good,” is a tongue-in-cheek quip often used to describe favorable bounces while playing golf and other sports. I would also use it to describe prospects for people deciding on a trade career nowadays. A number of economic, demographic and social trends are aligning to boost demand for trade work. One […]
Can You Be a Jack of All Trades?
In my last several blogs I’ve outlined the influence of smart homes on skilled trade workers in HVAC, electrical and plumbing. Modern technology forces an interaction among these trades. Home appliances and many plumbing fixtures require electricity to operate, so that even plumbers and HVAC technicians must understand at least the fundamentals of an electrician’s […]