I <3 Mike Rowe!

[Scotty]

Seriously, I want to have his babies.  Seriously, this guy needs to run for office (would be ironic eh?):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h_pp8CHEQ0

He brings up some very interesting points.  Ones I'm almost tempted to invest into.  Currently, at least in America, the standards are traditional 4-year universities.  The result is nothing more than a piece of paper saying you've successfully done what it takes to meet today's standards, congratulations.  That's it.  If a well paying job comes from it, that's a bonus, not a right, and in many cases, shouldn't even be an expectation.

Meanwhile, psychiatrists are going to start forking over more cash to a plumber for three hours of work than what they themselves make.  The world has been in a financial decline as of late, and unemployment is high enough to set records in the news, yet there are projects that need to get done, but cannot.  Not because of money (huh?), but because we don't have skilled laborers to complete the tasks.  Seriously, they're hiring, but people don't want to go to learn the skill sets, because Mommy told him when he was growing up, "You see that man, don't be that man!"

I'm SOOOO tempted at this point to go spend my GI Bill on a vocational school.  Seriously, my co-worker said his dad had a guy come over to lay tile on his floor that he himself had to buy.  Paid the man $75 an hour.  SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS AN HOUR (in case the first didn't sink in).  Sure, they aren't constantly working eight hours a day, but on a busy schedule (which with the decline in skilled labor, is likely to be consistently busy), if he was able to do at least 40 a week, enabling a calculation from hourly wage to annual salary, he's making $150k+ a year.  Seriously...

I'll be the first to say it in today's society, kids, the money is going to be in skilled labor in no time at all.  I'm not talking about McDonald's, or cutting grass.  I'm talking welders, plumbers, architects, etc...  Everyone wants to go do game design, which isn't even really that competitive in pay, or be a lawyer, or be a hedge fund manager, no one wants to do skilled labor.  I can near guarantee we are going to see a complete switch-a-roo in a decades time when the psychiatrist packs up his diploma and puts on a pair of gloves and coveralls.  If you can become that "Jack-of-all-trades" magician, you are going to be worth gold in no time at all!

[Lingus]

SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS AN HOUR (in case the first didn't sink in).  Sure, they aren't constantly working eight hours a day, but on a busy schedule (which with the decline in skilled labor, is likely to be consistently busy), if he was able to do at least 40 a week, enabling a calculation from hourly wage to annual salary, he's making $150k+ a year.  Seriously...

That'd be gross revenue. You aren't taking into account for expenses. I assume you're talking about someone going into business for themselves versus working for a plumbing or tiling company (because then the company gets $75/hour, but the worker gets less). In which case, there are plenty of expenses to take into consideration. I've always found it interesting when someone working at a company making a salary that equates to something like $15/hour, looks at someone who works for themselves and sees the $100+/hour and freaks out. When it comes down to it, that person working for themself ends up making around the same or sometimes less than the person with a set salary. Sure there's more freedom in that kind of work, but there's also more headaches sometimes.

I think the main thing to take away from this is that if you are young and thinking about what to go to school for, or what you want to do for a living, don't discount these kinds of jobs. You may spend 4 years in accounting school to end up after graduation spending 2 years looking for a job. If you learn a trade skill, you'll likely get a job in no time, or be able to start up your own business selling the trade.

[Scotty]

That'd be gross revenue.

True enough, and we don't know how much of that goes into other expenses.  It was some deal that he got with the Home Depot where he bought the tiles, then hired the service through the home depot, so I'm not entirely certain how the expenses divvy out in the end, but I have little to no doubt that the person doing the work is not doing well for himself.

Most definitely don't discount the skilled labor when deciding what you want to get into.  It's one of those things where there's literally always going to be work for them.  Businesses may go under, the need for cellular micro-biologists might go down, but roads are always going to need paving, septic tanks are gonna break, houses are going to need to get built, and metal will never weld itself in a way we'd want it to.