It almost seems impossible to put “high paying job” and “no student debt” in the same sentence right? Well, it’s not impossible. Majority of blue-collar jobs require no post-secondary school. The ones that do require post-secondary are for 1-2 years and often lead to high paying apprenticeship. So, little to no student debt and high demand? Sounds great, but why aren’t people joining blue-collar jobs? Because it is physical labour. Some people cannot handle doing physical labour and some just chose they do not want to (Like myself). This is exactly why these jobs are in demand. The more in demand and lack of supply, the higher you pay will be. Loan Away has sourced blue-collar employees in the state of Oregan, who are excited to inspire young adults to join the physical labour industry.
The lure of the trades: No school debt
PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon’s Office of Economic Analysis issued a new report pointing out teachers and construction workers make about the same amount of money but construction workers do not typically need as much college as teachers.
“All of these jobs pay approximately the same wage because they are performed by skilled workers, yet require vastly different levels of formals education,” writes Josh Lehner from the Office of Economic Analysis.
It’s no surprise to construction company owner Todd Hess.
“That is a message that we’ve been trying to get out for years,” he said.
Hess said there are openings at his construction company and others around Oregon, even across the country. Hess said people can often learn on the job, instead of racking up student loans for a degree they may or may not use.
“If somebody is interested in construction they can join an apprenticeship program, they can take classes at a community college and learn construction, but they can have a job and be working and employed and be paid while they’re learning,” he said.
Amy James Neel, a carpenter and trainer for a group called Oregon Tradeswomen, agrees.
“You can make as much as a teacher without the debt or considerably more than a teacher without the debt,” she said.
Oregon tradeswomen is a pre-apprenticeship program that over seven weeks, exposes women and people of color to the trades at no charge. Portland Youth Build and Constructing Hope are two other pre-apprenticeship programs in the Portland area.
James Neel says it’s a brilliant choice for those interested in the trades.
“If you go to college, great! Great pathway. You get to learn a lot of neat stuff. At the end of it, you have $50,000 or $100,000 debt–and you are at the bottom of your game,” she said.
“Whereas in the trades, that same amount of time, no debt. You are not incurring debt, but in five years, you are at the top of your game,” James Neel said.
thumbnail courtesy of kgw.com
Even though this source is from America, this also applies to Canadians. Blue collar jobs are amazing if you can handle the physical labour and want no student debt. Here are some of the jobs that are considered blue-collar.
- Aircraft Mechanic
- Automotive
- Boilermaker
- Brick Mason
- Carpenter
- Construction
- Electrician
- EMT / Firefighter
- Heavy Equipment Operator
- Machinist
- Painter
- Pipefitter
- Plumber
- Truck Driver
- Welder
Some of these jobs require a maximum of two years of post-secondary, but most of these careers will earn you over the average Canadian salary with two to four years. Seems like a great trade-off compared to going to school for four years and may not have a job after. Kevin O’Leary said it best. “17 years are making $100,000 decisions that will impact their life forever. They expect to go to school and somehow have a job after. The economy doesn’t work like that anymore”. With more people going to post-secondary and degrees becoming less valuable, consider going into the blue collar industry. You will always be in demand; meaning, you will always have a high paying job for as long as you want.
