How College Broke the Labor Market

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My high school used to have a construction class, they cut it due to lack of interest even though my older brother couldn't get in due to lack of space.

College becoming associated with work as opposed to education was a grave error.

I know someone who got a job at a department store and started talking to the escalator repairman one day, just because he was talkative. The repairman liked him and was getting ready to retire so he offered him the chance to be his apprentice, have a guaranteed job and walk him through the entire process. Lucky him.

I'm in my 40s. When I was a kid, it was "go to college or you'll end up flipping burgers." As an adult, it flipped it "what's the matter mister college man? Too proud to flip burgers?" I'm in the group that regrets having gone to college. I think I would have benefited from taking time after high school to choose a direction instead of just picking one. So it goes.

Anyone in college the last 20 years knows who the real villain is… the university book store

Every parent will admit we need more plumbers, electricians, elevator installers etc. But no parent will want that for THEIR OWN kid. It's like the U.S. budget. Everybody wants to spend less. Ask them which program they're willing to cut, specifically, and everyone gets real quiet.

In 1999 as we were graduating. Politicians came to our school to talk about all the incentives they had developed for us kids to go to University. I asked, what about those kids not going to University?" The plumbers, etc. They just glared at me and said. "If you want a good life, it's found at University. " I'll never forget that as long as I live.

I'm so angry that my parents and teachers never even mentioned the trades as an option for high school grads. Everybody knew about college and the military, but I never even heard the phrase "skilled trades" until I was well into my 20s. Our parents' generation truly failed us.

I am a tradesman who went to college. I made more money as an electrician than I made as an electrical engineer when I first graduated. With that said, I chose to go to college because being an electrician takes a toll on your body once you start getting old. Furthermore, I have the expectation to make much more money as a Senior Engineer or an engineer manager than I do as a master electrician. So here is my recommendation to anyone who reads this: Unless you are very rich or intellectually gifted, join a trade after high school. Use the good money you will be making to go to college, if you wish. Nothing wrong with studying part-time. Also, it will be awesome to graduate with little to no debt and plenty of experience in the field. I, myself, did not even need an internship to start working as an engineer.

I think one thing that should have been touched more upon was the physical effects of many trades on the body. The reason my family pushed me to get out of construction and food service wasn't just because they thought I'd make more money, but also because they all have had back issues and workplace injuries that an office worker wouldn't have. Both sides of the coin have their downsides, as office work isn't healthy either, but I think a factor the video didn't mention is that many youth see their parents physically damaged from trade work, and don't want the same for themselves. Not all trade work is back breaking, but a significant enough portion of it is to be off putting.

I talked to a European guy who told me something. They have a mix of college and trade school. At the end, they might choose to graduate or continue with the trade without too much loss. I felt that is a fairer proposition than college for all.

I attended college for a few months then was forced to drop out. Now I work at Walmart. For a long time I felt like a failure until one day I realized that all my friends who went to and graduated college are in basically the exact same position I am just with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.

I graduated with a dual degree in electrical and computer engineering in 2019 with no debt. Today, I am employed as an engineer and highly compensated. I was extremely lucky. My nephew is about to graduate high school and everyone in my family except me has been pressuring him to get a 4 year degree. They're using me as an example, even though I am not by any means a realistic meter stick. He isn't like me, and he certainly would not succeed in a bachelor's program. I'm the only one urging him to attend a trade school. He likes to work with his hands and see people smile. I don't do that. I spend most of my time running simulations, arguing in meetings, and designing computer systems. He doesn't want to be me, but our family still won't let up. I find it deeply upsetting.

“And when everyone’s super, no one will be…”

This video left out one important factor for people in their 60s and 70s. When I graduate from high school in 1968, the choice was either go to college and get a deferment or be drafted for Vietnam. Millions chose college. It would have been much better for me to have taken a year or two off and worked so I knew what I wanted to do and what I was interested in. I think for myself I lacked the maturity to choose a proper major and to fully take advantage of the educational opportunities in college. I think the whole idea of high school students immediately going to college in part arose from this era when failing to go meant being drafted. I would encourage everyone to take a year or two off after high school to learn about themselves and what they want to do with their lives.

My father spoke about this and saw this gigantic colossal quagmire in the 1980s and thought that college way US roles it out is a scam.

14:02 The pan to Kumon while saying "for some, childhood was sacrificed entirely" felt like a personal attack. Me and my siblings had to do dumb kumon shit for so many years that it really did steal from my childhood.

As a heads up, Elevator and Escalator Mechanics/Technician is a position that is pretty heavily involved with nepotism. Thats why so many Elevator technician kids follow in that career. It’s one of the highest paid trade jobs, but also has a pretty high mortality rate. So don’t just assume you can hop into a $100k career without any issues.

Oh... I live this. I was a 80s kid, mid 2000's Purdue grad. I grew up being shoveled the "if you wanna ever be anything but poor you have to have to go to college", "trades and blue collar work is for poors and the uneducated", "college is your only path to being anything other than a failure". I sacrificed so much of my youth and 20's to AP classes, extracurricular college approved activities, killing myself studying harder and competing against everyone. Only to graduate and find almost no jobs and the ones you did find (even still today) are Bach. degree and 5-7 years experience required to make $35-40k-ish a year. I languished in a "degree adjacent" job with no upward mobility and paltry pay increases for 15 years before I found an actual job in my degree field. And still, I don't make what would be considered decent middle class money. Now middle-aged, I'm in that 65% that regret College that I'm still paying for BTW. If I could do it over again absolutely not. I know HVAC, Machinist, Message Therapists, etc that pull in more than double what i make. Hell there are a myriad of high paying blue collar jobs, like the elevator installer, that I have never even heard of until recent years. College might have been the golden ticket to 60s, 70, and 80s Grads, but when you flood the market.... To quote Syndrome from the Incredibles, "I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can be superheroes. Everyone* can be super! And when everyone's super...NO ONE will be."