By: Trevor McNally, Editor
There’s a lot of uncertainty in the market regarding the future of trade jobs, both in Maine and beyond. The need for skilled journeymen continues to grow at a rate that cannot be filled fast enough as the older generation nears retirement age. So how can the trades, and pipefitting specifically, entice more of the younger generation to enter the profession?
The answer seems to be money.
And why not? According to a 2012 study by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, people can make substantially more money over time by entering a “Registered Apprenticeship (RA)”- like the ones offered by UA Local 716 here in Maine.
“RA participants had substantially higher annual earnings than did nonparticipants. Over their career of 36 years, participants who completed the RA program had average earnings of nearly a quarter million dollars ($240,037, or $301,533 including employer benefits added). After accounting for costs, the net benefits for RA completers are $233,828. Even when non-completers are added to the analysis, over their career of 36 years, the estimated average earnings gains for all participants is still an impressive $98,718 (or $123,906 including employer benefits). Taking into account various costs such as taxes apprentices pay on earnings gains, the estimated net benefits for RA participants are $96,911. The social benefits of the RA program appear to be much larger than the social costs. Over the average 36 year career of an apprentice, the estimated social benefits of RA exceed the social costs by more than $49,000.”
Even before this study was published, many young men and women could see the potential benefits.
Joseph Mulkern was 23 years old and unsure about what his next move was when he heard about Local 716’s pipefitting apprenticeship program in 2008.
“I thought it would be a good fit because I was working a warehouse job that was okay. But then I got the opportunity to learn a trade and come out of it debt free,” Mulkern says.
For Martin Cleveland, a 32 year old military veteran who just started the pipefitting apprenticeship program in May, financial considerations were also the first thing that came to mind when deciding to learn a trade. Not only does it pay well, but he’s able to use the GI Bill to offset the cost of schooling and travel.
One thing that surprised him, though, were the demographics.
“There’s a lot of young guys and even teens in the program,” Cleveland says.
And that’s an encouraging observation. Because the more young people that can be convinced that it’s more lucrative to enter a trade rather than a 4-year college, the better.