Trade Jobs vs College; it’s a debate nearly as old as the internet itself. It’s frankly the career-option version of Michael versus LeBron in that both sides are hotly passionate about their choice. Who can blame them? It’s human nature to justify the decisions one has made. However, I’m going to fight against that programming. Despite being a STEM grad, I actually have a soft-spot for trade jobs. Why? I grew up in a home where the trades were well-represented. Then, I went to a well-renowned vocational high school. So, despite not entering the trades myself I have a healthy appreciation for the trades and the people who perform this work.
The most common talking point around this debate is thar trade jobs don’t require major debt loads to enter and that they can often lead to high incomes. By no means am I saying that this is wrong, however this is not the complete picture. Another talking point is that the influx of AI will eliminate millions of predominantly white-collar jobs while the blue collars will generally survive. While I reject that panic-mongering (since AI is nothing to fear), I won’t be discussing that either. Let’s face it, the blue-collar workforce absolutely fucking crushes the college graduates in a crucial parameter; job satisfaction. It’s honestly kind of baffling that aspect of this discussion is so neglected…
Death to the White….Collars
Let’s start with lawyers; an expensive terminal degree is needed to enter what many perceive as a prestigious job. Decades of media and Hollywood propaganda have sold the public on the glamour of being a lawyer. The lawyers themselves? They’re fucking miserable. In fact, they’re so goddamn unhappy at work that there is an entire sub-industry dedicated to helping lawyers leave the field.
Alright, well how about Wall Street? There has been a similarly lengthy PR campaign about how great it is to work on Wall Street; films such as Boiler Room and The Wolf of Wall Street have pushed this narrative hard. The only problem? Most financial analysts are completely unhappy. Kevin Roose wrote a great book detailing this. Expect to work 9-5; that is, 9am to 5am the next fucking day. You’ll do this for multiple years on end….
Alright, what about those who are mathematically inclined but don’t really care about business or social interaction? Engineering and Actuarial Sciences are common fields of study that social-stunted students enter solely because of the financial rewards. The only problem? You guessed it; most chemical engineers and insurance actuaries fucking hate their jobs too. Engineers get worked to the absolute bone, and are often the first ones blamed when something does not go right: which is often.
I hear the klopping of wedge-heels closing in; our favorite overweight naysayer Karen is here! “Dan, you’re just cherry-picking the high-flying career paths. Not everyone who goes to college is a money-grubbing leech!” Alright, let’s humor Karen and her 1200 calorie Starbucks milkshake coffee. Social workers require Sociology degrees and they’re pretty goddamn unhappy with their gigs. Same goes for teachers; teachers are leaving the field at an alarming rate. Is that income-diverse enough for you, Karen?
There’s another key part about job satisfaction; prestige. The career paths that I mention often rely on the brand recognition of the employer to perform some serious heavy lifting. With that said, this is a fool’s game because very few lawyers get hired by a BigLaw firm right out of law school, despite what Hollywood has sold you. Ditto for finance grads and Wall Street. Thus, the examples I presented above are the best case scenarios for their fields. Case in point: FinanceBro’s who never made it to Wall Street and end up selling insurance policies are likely even unhappier…
They Don’t Seem Blue To Me…
Let’s start with welders. Welders, as it shows, are quite happy with their jobs. Especially the ones that go into a specific niche like working on pipelines. And to prove to Karen that I’m not just cherry-picking, the trend holds up for most skilled trades. And notice how I’m only focusing on employees right now, as entrepreneurship is quite common in the trades. Open your own plumbing company and expect to feel pretty good about your decision.
Further helping the case for blue collar jobs is that the fact that prestige of employer isn’t really a major factor for the guys with toolboxes. It isn’t hard to see why; there is no McKinsey of Electricians or Goldman Sachs for Plumbers. Generally speaking, it helps if one can secure a union gig, but by no means is that a requirement to have an enjoyable life while on-the-clock for the guys rocking Carhartts.
I’ll admit, this trend isn’t 100% ironclad. After all, anesthesiologists tend to be pretty happy with how their lives turned out, and there’s plenty of auto mechanics who aren’t particularly enthused with their line of work. Generally speaking though, the guys rocking hard hats are hitting the snooze button a lot less than those who live-and-die on Zoom calls.
The pipe-wrench is mightier than the thumb-drive….
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