There has been a huge drop in the labor force when looking at the trade jobs. The trades encompass a plethora of jobs, a few being electrician, plumber, contractor, and craftsmen. And that's just to name a few! Year after year, the labor force is hit with less and less qualified and certified tradesmen. This is a direct result of two things. The first is trade classes being cut from high school programs and the second is the huge emphasis for students to attain a college degree.
Being one who has personally gone through the high school process, the closest thing to a trade or shop class was being a part of my high schools theatre department. I was part of the set crew, the team who designed and constructed our theatre's sets. We got to work with power tools, different building material, and blueprints to design our scenery and props. That was the closest thing to a woodshop class that we had at my high school. This is the same for almost every public high school across the nation. Due to finical cuts to the schools and the general non-interest and lack of demand for such classes, shop classes have been cut from the system. This has resulted in a growing gap in the labor force. More and more students are going to college and getting degrees in areas that have more than enough memebers to support their specific industry.
The cutting of trade classes has put up a blockade in the knowledge and exposure to such opportunities that come with being involved with the trades. Students don't realize and aren't exposed to the possibilities of the hard, but gratifying, work of the trades. As a direct response to no shop classes, the majority of students wither go on to post-secondary education or settle for a mediocre job that can barely support them. By integrating shop classes back into our high school programs, we would accomplish two things. The first thing we would accomplish is sparking an interest in a new generation of students, educating the population of students who might not like or preform as strongly in the academic field as some others. The second thing that we would accomplish is reestablishing an interest in the trades workforce, which would eventually turn into a new group of trained and qualified individuals to enter into the trades.
The second reason that there has been a decline in the trades workforce is because of the immense pressure and push for every single student to go off to college. College is not for every single person. There are copious amounts of jobs in this world that do not require a college degree, and most of these jobs are related to the trades in some way. By going to a professional trade school for your post-secondary education, you are still receiving a higher education. In addition to getting certified in some sort of trade, there is a high demand for the workforce and to fill these positions. This also means that wages will be higher and in some trade positions, job security is pretty high.
Overall, we as a society need to push to bring back the exposure of shop classes to our students. We need to have as many carrier opportunities offered to them before they enter the real world. Give our students a sense freedom and more options than another four years behind a desk listening to a professor. There the work lies, waiting for people to fill the positions. And educated society is a successful society, and right now we don't have enough people educated in the trades. So, let's make a trade for academics and refocus on our shop classes!
