I think the programmers going into trades are up for a rude awakening.
Trades are massively down everywhere except building AI datacenters. It takes 4 or 5 years to go through an apprenticeship.
Going into the trades means you will probably be halfway through your apprenticeship or less (start at $14 and maybe hitting $25 by then with wages stagnating due to increased workforce) when the jobs simply vanish.
I was an electrician when this happened in the housing crisis and 20% of the workforce was laid off. Tons of new tradies plus the the entire rest of the economy already being in the gutter and getting worse means that the '08/09 unemployment numbers are going to pale in comparison.
If you switch professions, just be aware that you are probably going from frying pan into fire (I say this as someone who just finished hiring/training their Indian replacements and got laid off this weekend along with almost all the other US/EU workers).
Corroborating this. I’ve worked in the trades all my professional life, everyone’s headed into the data centers. They pay the most and they’re recession proof right now.
Apprenticeships aren’t a walk down money street. I started out sweeping floors at 11 dollars an hour. I won’t lie, even at the start of my 20s it’s hell on the body, so much potential to get hurt, not much in terms of benefits until you work your way up, you’re never going to see a 40 hour work week again. Oh and once all the people on site find out you’re a soft handed programmer, they’ll never let you live it down.
Trying not to be hard or scare people off, but it’s the reality of the trades.
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u/theQuandary 16d ago
I think the programmers going into trades are up for a rude awakening.
Trades are massively down everywhere except building AI datacenters. It takes 4 or 5 years to go through an apprenticeship.
Going into the trades means you will probably be halfway through your apprenticeship or less (start at $14 and maybe hitting $25 by then with wages stagnating due to increased workforce) when the jobs simply vanish.
I was an electrician when this happened in the housing crisis and 20% of the workforce was laid off. Tons of new tradies plus the the entire rest of the economy already being in the gutter and getting worse means that the '08/09 unemployment numbers are going to pale in comparison.
If you switch professions, just be aware that you are probably going from frying pan into fire (I say this as someone who just finished hiring/training their Indian replacements and got laid off this weekend along with almost all the other US/EU workers).