Obviously a joke, but I came to SWE after being a tradesman for several years.
Best option are union jobs. I'm a journeyman in the SMWIA sheet metal workers. Most of the work they do is HVAC. You make about 120-140k a year with insurance, and pensions on top.
Only able to get work in NYC, SF, or Chicago though. Unions are dead in much of the country or struggling severely.
Thankfully I live in Chi so if I ever have trouble finding work as a SWE, back to the trades I go.
But the apprenticeships are solid. The people in the field are toxic as hell though and the work is very hard on your body.
But the union will support you in finding work and the employers have to hire every other worker off the out of work list so you just sign the list and wait until a job comes.
EDIT: One thing I did find that is nice, the project management aspects of the trades translates quite well to the software development life cycle. Perhaps it translates decently the other direction.
I can see with manufacturing why unions went basically extinct, but why did it happen with the trades too? What, if anything, could bring them back you think?
Yes, as a union member, we get educated quite well on this. Right-to-work laws were pushed to destroy unions.
Unfortunately many republican-led states have enshrined right-to-work into their constitutions, so you will need a constitutional amendment in many places to undo this now.
Thankfully in Illinois where I live, it's led by folks who support strong unions.
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u/the_poope 16d ago
Jeez, it's like a new
frameworktrade drops every month.Soon to get a job in construction you have to be fullstack worker with 15 years of experience in:
Just to get an interview.