As baby boomers retire in record
numbers, companies are left
struggling to replace them.
But the labor shortage has been affecting
the trades long before the pandemic.
Eyewitness News anchor Sharon
Coe has more on the high paying
jobs in high demand right now.
Marker centers out.
These aren't the kind
of jobs where you're sitting down
and staring at a computer in a prison
cell sized cube.
You're going to work with your hands
and get a little messy here and there.
It's part of the job in
skilled trades as a good way,
but not all of it. Perception has
always been that we are uneducated.
Unskilled and not fit to do any other job.
I don't know what perception is.
I mean, we're dirty,
we stink and stuff like that.
In reality, these young guys are
thriving and meaningful careers.
Their six figure jobs require
training and specialized skills you've
ever worked beside any of
these skilled trades you would
see they know more than most
people would ever give them.
Give them credit for
demand for tradespeople is soaring,
according to people,
ready skilled trades accompany connecting
businesses with skilled laborers.
There are more than 388,000 jobs posted
for tradespeople between May and June.
That's a 50% increase
from pre pandemic levels.
This comes as more baby boomers quit
the workforce during the pandemic
and more did than ever before.
KENS 5 is highlighting the
positions with the highest demand.
First up meet Jake Rankin,
a construction manager.
He's responsible for
projects start to finish.
You have to know what a job
done right? Looks like basis
Rankin started out as a trim Carpenter.
I grew up in the construction. Industry
and now he knows just about
everything in this field.
He says he tried the college route,
bankrolling it out of my own pocket,
but decided to ditch the debt.
I will be 6 figure income and in
my positions it's been incredible.
It's allowed me and my family
to be virtually debt free.
It's not just a place to earn a paycheck,
it's a place to build a career.
The company that I'm with we will
close over 300 homes this year.
We're on track to do 500 next year
up next. Jason Gutierrez.
An electrician and service
technician with Mr. Sparky.
It wasn't that I didn't
want to go to college, but it was.
It was a more enticing route.
I mean jumping right into work. He
started off as a helper,
assisting electricians and
climbed up to a supervisory role.
Mr Sparky says the annual earning
potential for his position ranges
between 80,000 and 200,000.
This guys limit yourself right.
Another area in need. Plumbers
system. Yeah, challenge for labor.
Definitely in the future. Commercial guests.
James bump. The owner of Tietze
Plumbing used to work for Boeing.
He switched and advanced quickly going
from an apprenticeship to master plumber.
What do you got going today?
We have three licenses.
Basically it will have a tradesman,
a journeyman and a master,
and then the next step
after that would be an RMP.
Basically just you can own a business
is what it comes down to guys
making over 100,006 figures a year.
This is doable and it it happens a
lot works there, everything is there.
I mean as hard as you want to work,
the more you can make.
At north side, ISD's
construction Careers Academy.
They're helping to train a new
generation of skilled workers just
to double check everything that they learn.
Here is what's happening in
today's industry, its current.
They're getting their hands on
different plumbing material.
Yeah, we need to fix that,
but they're also learning how
to work together as a team.
How to resolve conflict. Students
can earn industry recognized credentials,
college credit and internships.
Through PC, I can get a.
OSHA 10 hour NCR and I'm already
plumbers apprentice right now,
and without CCA that wouldn't be possible.
7 inches. You're good. John
Alvarez, who teaches class here,
says he tells his students to
explore their options that he paid
for college with his plumbing job.
The trade like 2 needs young motivated
kids like this and I'm just happy to
be able to share a tad bit of what has
brought me success for me to my students.
So if life is what you make of it,
these guys prove success doesn't
have to be buried in books.
It can be built up with
tools and to share and Co.
Can spy Eyewitness News.