Specialized jobs including aircraft mechanics and heavy- equipmenttechnicians can surpass $100,000, and industry groups and statesare incorporating that into their advertising campaigns. (Photo:Shutterstock)

Like other college prep schools, Bishop McLaughlin Catholic HighSchool north of Tampa, Florida, touts its 100 percent collegeacceptance rate to burnish its image and recruit students.

This year it could fall short of that mark for the first time ina while. Instead of shooting for the University of Florida oranother four-year college, graduating senior Cassian O'Neill isleaning toward installing water heaters and fixing leaky toilets asa plumber.

“I don't want to sit at a desk all day and work on a computer,”said Cassian, 19. “I want to do more hands-on work, so I thoughtthe best way to do that was being a plumber or an electrician or awelder. The amount of money plumbers are making is definitelydecent and it can always go up because so few people know how to dothat work.”

Related: Millions of skilled jobs to go unfilled inmanufacturing

Indeed, the 40 plumbers at Superior Plumbing in Atlanta earnaround $90,000 in wages and commissions — about 70 percent higherthan the region's average income. Owner Jay Cunningham figures hecould immediately fill 20 more plumbing jobs if he could findpeople with the right set of skills and a presentable appearanceand demeanor. He blames the talent shortage on parental bias for collegeover the trades.

“We probably need to do a better job hammering in how much debtyou're going to have going to college,” said Niel Dawson, who runsapprentice and training programs for Independent ElectricalContractors in Georgia. “From day one you're earning money in anapprenticeship program.”

Six-figure mechanics

The 3.8 percent U.S. unemployment rate has exacerbated a skilledlabor shortage that had been building for years. To turn the tide,American's blue-collar industries are adopting a blunter recruitingapproach by touting how new entrants can earn more than somecollege graduates, without incurring tens of thousands of debt.Specialized jobs including aircraft mechanics and heavy- equipmenttechnicians can surpass $100,000, and industry groups and statesincluding Michigan and Georgia are incorporating that into theiradvertising campaigns.

Georgia recently spent $3 million on a campaign to push itstechnical colleges and is touting its tuition-free grant programfor 17 high-demand jobs, including commercial truck driving,electrical linemen and diesel equipment technology, said MattArthur, commissioner of Georgia's Technical College System.

In Michigan, the state Department of Talent and EconomicDevelopment is behind a campaign called Going Pro that tries tocreate a buzz around the professional trades. Front and center onthe campaign's web page, www.going-pro.com, is a list of careerfields and how much they pay — mentioned even before a descriptionof what each job does.

Electrical power-line installers and repairers earn $77,000, thesite says. Plumbers and pipefitters earn $65,000.

“The biggest question that we get is, 'How much money can wemake?',” said Sammie Lukaskiewicz, the agency's deputy director ofmarketing and strategy.

Signing bonuses

Trash hauler Waste Management Inc. offers $7,000 signing bonusesfor certain mechanic jobs, and some competitors are offering up to$15,000, said Chief Human Resources Officer Tamla Oates-Forney. Thecompany's drivers meanwhile will earn $50,000 to $75,000 a year,she said.

Waste Management is also trying more creative ways to plughard-to-fill jobs, including testing a new program to let workerssteer landfill bulldozers remotely.

“You don't have to be out at a sweaty, stinky landfill. You canbe in a very pristine, pleasant environment,” Oates-Forney said.“It's going to be more appealing, and we will be able to recruitveterans and also women who might never have thought about being inthis type of industry.”

Major automotive players including Nissan North America, Manheimand Interstate Batteries are pushing young people to become autotechnicians through an advocacy group called the TechForceFoundation. It's urging repair shops to talk up their potentialwages as much as possible and go way beyond traditional high schoolcareer fairs.

“You gotta get out there and start talking with them in middleschool,” said TechForce director of national initiatives GregSettle.

To be sure, a bachelor's degree generally is more lucrative inthe long run than a middle-skill job that requires somepost-secondary education short of a four-year degree. GeorgetownUniversity's Center on Education and the Workforce has studied thegrowth of what it calls “good jobs” — those paying at least $35,000or $45,000 depending on someone's age — over time and among peoplewith different education levels.

Good jobs requiring bachelor's degrees doubled between 1991 and2016, while middle-skills jobs including many trades grew a moremodest 29 percent, the center found. Good jobs requiring only ahigh school degree fell by 12 percent.

Tuition-free

Soaring college debt, though, could tip the scales in favor oftrade schools for at least some students. Student debt loadsreached almost $29,000 on average nationally in 2017, withConnecticut students carrying more than $38,000 in debt, accordingto to the Institute for College Access and Success. While sometrade certificate programs can cost as much as $45,000, many arecovered in part by employers and others, like Georgia's programs,are tuition-free.

Eight years ago, Hayden Bramlett was suffering through businesscourses at Valdosta State University in south Georgia. “It was likewatching paint dry,” he says.

Today, the 28-year-old is finishing up a four-year electriciantraining program at an Independent Electrical Contractors campus inAtlanta. Meanwhile, he's working for one of the Atlanta area'sbigger electrical, plumbing and air conditioning companies, earningmore than $100,000 some years, he says.

If one is willing to work, the demand for electricians “wayoutweighs the people we have in this trade,” Bramlett said. “Inever knew this was an option. I was steered toward college. Itfeels good to know I could walk out the door and get a job.”

Read more: 

• How small businesses are staying competitive in atough recruiting environment
• Blue-collar workers now harder to find thanwhite-collar
• Talent shortage has employers rethinkingrecruitment tactics

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