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Gen Z Plumbers and Construction Workers Are Making BlueCollar Cool

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Re: Gen Z Plumbers and Construction Workers Are Making BlueCollar Cool

#11

Post by kwere »

givemeethekeys wrote: post #6
science4sail wrote: post #4

I think that USA culture at least has certainly gone too far in the direction of "college degree = white collar job = comfortable middle-class lifestyle". From what I understand, the PRC ironically also ended up in a similar situation with a vast oversupply of college graduates. That said, the article focuses on people who have two jobs (their day job and also social media influencing), so I wonder if this sort of st…

White collar salaries still pay better than blue collar salaries. Making 6 figures is considered a big deal among blue collar workers in America, while making 6 figures is a baseline expectation among white collar workers. The US gets thousands of people coming in through the border every day, who bring down blue collar salaries more than they bring down white collar salaries.

A lot of trades not only require hands on experience as apprenticeships, but also buttloads of certifications / legal liabilities to sign off projects, which act as a sensible moat agianst unskilled migrant laborers that dont know the language well, let alone able to navigate endless bureacracy.

Also in a lot of trades once you have a "name" and book of clients its easy to work on your own and start a small business

Re: Gen Z Plumbers and Construction Workers Are Making BlueCollar Cool

#12

Post by ninininino »

givemeethekeys wrote: post #6
science4sail wrote: post #4

I think that USA culture at least has certainly gone too far in the direction of "college degree = white collar job = comfortable middle-class lifestyle". From what I understand, the PRC ironically also ended up in a similar situation with a vast oversupply of college graduates. That said, the article focuses on people who have two jobs (their day job and also social media influencing), so I wonder if this sort of st…

White collar salaries still pay better than blue collar salaries. Making 6 figures is considered a big deal among blue collar workers in America, while making 6 figures is a baseline expectation among white collar workers. The US gets thousands of people coming in through the border every day, who bring down blue collar salaries more than they bring down white collar salaries.

Making 6 figures is absolutely not a baseline expectation among American white collar workers. Are you mistaking finance, law, software, and accounting as the totality of white collar work?

Re: Gen Z Plumbers and Construction Workers Are Making BlueCollar Cool

#13

Post by wormius »

giraffe_lady wrote: post #8
givemeethekeys wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

White collar salaries still pay better than blue collar salaries. Making 6 figures is considered a big deal among blue collar workers in America, while making 6 figures is a baseline expectation among white collar workers. The US gets thousands of people coming in through the border every day, who bring down blue collar salaries more than they bring down white collar salaries.

And while plenty of people do make six figures in the trades, it's a much worse way to make it. That level of pay almost always comes from overtime, uneven demand tied either to seasonal or boom/bust cycles, or traveling away from home for work. Often some combination of these. Almost no one in the trades is just working a 9-5 across town for $140k year after year after year that's for sure. You might have seasons wh…

So, sort of like game dev? Game Dev is the blue collar of white collar?

Re: Gen Z Plumbers and Construction Workers Are Making BlueCollar Cool

#14

Post by doubled112 »

giraffe_lady wrote: post #8
givemeethekeys wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

White collar salaries still pay better than blue collar salaries. Making 6 figures is considered a big deal among blue collar workers in America, while making 6 figures is a baseline expectation among white collar workers. The US gets thousands of people coming in through the border every day, who bring down blue collar salaries more than they bring down white collar salaries.

And while plenty of people do make six figures in the trades, it's a much worse way to make it. That level of pay almost always comes from overtime, uneven demand tied either to seasonal or boom/bust cycles, or traveling away from home for work. Often some combination of these. Almost no one in the trades is just working a 9-5 across town for $140k year after year after year that's for sure. You might have seasons wh…

Plus many making more are independent contractors or own a company.

Buy your own truck, your own tools and gear, pay for materials out of your cut, etc.

There are a lot of costs people don't think of.

Re: Gen Z Plumbers and Construction Workers Are Making BlueCollar Cool

#15

Post by pkaye »

science4sail wrote: post #4

I think that USA culture at least has certainly gone too far in the direction of "college degree = white collar job = comfortable middle-class lifestyle". From what I understand, the PRC ironically also ended up in a similar situation with a vast oversupply of college graduates. That said, the article focuses on people who have two jobs (their day job and also social media influencing), so I wonder if this sort of st…

US level of tertiary education is closer to middle of the pack among OECD countries between France and Switzerland.

https://data.oecd.org/eduatt/population-with-tertiary-educat...

Re: Gen Z Plumbers and Construction Workers Are Making BlueCollar Cool

#16

Post by givemeethekeys »

ninininino wrote: post #12
givemeethekeys wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

White collar salaries still pay better than blue collar salaries. Making 6 figures is considered a big deal among blue collar workers in America, while making 6 figures is a baseline expectation among white collar workers. The US gets thousands of people coming in through the border every day, who bring down blue collar salaries more than they bring down white collar salaries.

Making 6 figures is absolutely not a baseline expectation among American white collar workers. Are you mistaking finance, law, software, and accounting as the totality of white collar work?

> mistaking finance, law, software, and accounting

add sales to that, and there isn't much left. HR and Marketing catch up after a couple of years.

Re: Gen Z Plumbers and Construction Workers Are Making BlueCollar Cool

#17

Post by xfitm3 »

darth_avocado wrote: post #9
givemeethekeys wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

White collar salaries still pay better than blue collar salaries. Making 6 figures is considered a big deal among blue collar workers in America, while making 6 figures is a baseline expectation among white collar workers. The US gets thousands of people coming in through the border every day, who bring down blue collar salaries more than they bring down white collar salaries.

Believe it or not, outside of tech, white collar salaries are still not 100k+. Median white collar salaries hover around $80k. Blue collar jobs like construction and plumbing can fetch you those salaries, but without the debt that comes with getting a white collar job.

When you own your own business you can easily make 6 figures, it just takes years of sweat equity and rough times. A friend of mine has grown his business from 100k/y in sales (and 5-10k profit) to millions per year (~300k profit) installing TVs and stereos in 13 years. He worked his ass off for a long time.

Re: Gen Z Plumbers and Construction Workers Are Making BlueCollar Cool

#18

Post by xkcd-sucks »

science4sail wrote: post #4

I think that USA culture at least has certainly gone too far in the direction of "college degree = white collar job = comfortable middle-class lifestyle". From what I understand, the PRC ironically also ended up in a similar situation with a vast oversupply of college graduates. That said, the article focuses on people who have two jobs (their day job and also social media influencing), so I wonder if this sort of st…

This kind of consumerist equation: Pay money, physically present to classes and follow explicit instructions, receive grade, [repeat at med school], get high paying job expectation etc. also has the side effect of totally lowering academic standards both as pressure from the top down and friction from the ground up. It's a super depressing realization to hit any passion-oriented graduate student supported on a teaching appointment among other things

Re: Gen Z Plumbers and Construction Workers Are Making BlueCollar Cool

#20

Post by jdmdmdmdmd »

xkcd-sucks wrote: post #18
science4sail wrote: post #4

I think that USA culture at least has certainly gone too far in the direction of "college degree = white collar job = comfortable middle-class lifestyle". From what I understand, the PRC ironically also ended up in a similar situation with a vast oversupply of college graduates. That said, the article focuses on people who have two jobs (their day job and also social media influencing), so I wonder if this sort of st…

This kind of consumerist equation: Pay money, physically present to classes and follow explicit instructions, receive grade, [repeat at med school], get high paying job expectation etc. also has the side effect of totally lowering academic standards both as pressure from the top down and friction from the ground up. It's a super depressing realization to hit any passion-oriented graduate student supported on a teachi…

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