[pragmatic]

The simple answer is: These kids are training for the wrong jobs. College (in many areas) is a waste. Trade schools (vo-tech) offer a (almost 100%) guarantee of employment.

A trade is a gateway to self employment (once you have your hours in for licensing).

My brother has his master electrician's license in two states. He has more work than he knows what to do with.

I have two friends who recently went back to school (one finishing undergrad business/marketing the other MBA). Their job outlook is _poor_. The market is flooded with people that have _soft_ skills.

Our company is still hiring network technicians. Again a two year degree with _hard_ skill requirements. (Cisco certs, etc).

Tech school is way cheaper than college and your job prospects are good.

[mkr-hn]

I started on a networking specialist degree (2 year community college) before the economy tanked, and finished just after. I went in figuring I'd be dead before a technology would exist to automate it.

I'm sure I'm right, but I didn't think about how a recession would impact it.

On the plus side, there were endless streams of entry level positions I was well-qualified for before things went south, and I'll probably be able to find a job related to my degree when the economy starts improving.

[thedaveoflife]

I agree that there are certainly plenty of opportunities presented by developing a technical skill. However the unemployment rate is only 4.5% for the college educated vs 10.7% for high school only and 8.4% for an associate degree/some college. So maybe college is not as much of a waste as you might think.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm

[pragmatic]

Yes but show me the figures that break out Electrician/Plumber/LPN from 2 year business degrees.

My sister in law got a 2 year biz degree. You're qualified to be a secretary (without experience). She went back and got LPN with an additional year at school.

Her job outlook is amazing. Her income is 2 to 3 times what she could have made with only her business degree.

Associated degree/some college includes a lot of things like child care/business, etc.

[salemh]

http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_rowe_celebrates_dirty_jobs.htm...

I have a few trade's friends, and a few programmer friends (well, one hacker, one QA / side project hacker). The plumber friend makes $50k in this down market, typically $80k at 1-3 years of experience. The hacker / QA make ~50-55k at 2-4 years. Its all relative to your skills and contributions, but, I am only agreeing that you can make "good" money at a trades skill.

[ianhawes]

Couldn't agree more. I know plenty of people that do masonry, electrical work, etc.. and they're busier than ever.