Plumbing is a trade that we will always have use of. Our modern plumbing systems seem to show no signs of getting any less complicated, quite the opposite. It’s also a trade that can pay well and offer plenty of freedoms. Yet we’re seeing less young people interested in picking up the trade than ever. What exactly is the problem? And how can we convince more people to take up the trade?

The problem

Plumbing is not a particularly glamorous jobs. Even amongst the skilled trades, it doesn’t gain as much attention because of how much dirt and unpleasantness is involved. However, it’s not just plumbing that’s seeing a potential crisis. Skilled trades in general, including electricians amongst others, are seeing less interest than ever. The focus on degree-driven careers is distracting many of our young people from the benefits of a career in trades. So, what convinces them to come back?

Responsibility

It may not seem like it sometimes, but the next generation of workers will look for responsibility more often than not. To rise high, you need to prove yourself. Yet plumbing offers all of that. Besides all the know-how of handling torque tools and methods, there’s also the appeal of being self-employed. That’s not all, however.

Reliability

While some other skilled trades are showing a slowdown in growth, you can assume that this will never be a long-term problem for plumbing. Of course, as construction slows, so too will opportunities for high-paid construction plumbing. But even taking residential jobs only into account, it’s no surprise that we have plenty of need for plumbers. In terms of job reliability, plumbing is one way to set yourself up for life.

An established market

Not only are there the obvious applications of plumbing. No, the trade is so well established that there are all kinds of support networks and services in place. Any plumber whose trade is suffering only needs to look at the kind of help available. From providing business support to supplying interns to help with a workload. The skilled trades are some of the most well supported out there so failure is actually quite hard in the end.

Training

One of the appeals of plumbing is that doesn’t require quite as much education. That means a lot less debt to saddle yourself with after you start earning. There are all kinds of plumbing courses available for young people to take advantage of. However, at the same time, we need to train those prospective plumbers to be careful. As many reliable courses there are, there are others that offer fast-track education but leave a person with few usable skills in the end.

We’re going to suffer a crisis due to a lack of trained tradesmen in the future if we don’t influence the current generation. We need to assure them that a degree is not always the path to the best degree. With all the lucrative opportunities a plumbing qualification offers, it shouldn’t be too difficult. We just need to put in the effort.