Promoting the Skilled Trades

The story of Andrew Brown’s life in construction starts on September 11, 2001.

Andrew was a 23-year-old IT worker on Wall Street. When the towers fell, Andrew and a friend decided that they had to help. They headed toward Ground Zero and somehow made it through all of the checkpoints. 

After watching so many tradespeople pour themselves into the rescue efforts–most of them with little PPE, Andrew found himself wondering what he could do to support these hardworking people. A couple months later, Andrew put in his two-week notice and started a business with his brother. Together, they started an online tool company.  

Last year, Andrew decided to post some videos sharing what he’s learned over two decades of behind-the-scenes work in the construction industry. The videos gained more and more views, and then one went viral. He realized he was on to something. Tyler shares his appreciation for the simply informative, non-promotional tone of Andrew’s videos.

We ask Andrew to share some thoughts about the labor-shortage issue within the construction world. He says that the narrative needs to change in homes and schools. We need to flip the script on the old-school threat that poor academic performance will sentence you to a life in the trades. That outcome needs to be seen as the reward that it is rather than as a punishment.

We ask Andrew to outline what he thinks can increase the number of young people who aspire to learn a skilled trade. Andrew suggests giving them the bigger picture of where construction fits into the big picture. Then it’s important to help them see the opportunities for working your way up the ladder—possibly toward owning your own business.

Tyler points out that a significant number of people who are currently in the field of construction didn’t even zhead that direction purposefully. Many have kind of stumbled into it from peripheral fields or through jobs they thought would be temporary.

Andrew piggybacks on that idea and emphasizes the importance of looking for people who might enter the skilled trades through unorthodox routes. The various in-roads must be made clear. Construction companies need to make a concerted effort to sell young people on how a career in construction contributes to society. 

Eddie shares about a recent high school event he attended where 30 high school seniors shared their career plans. He got the sense that most of them had simply Googled the salaries for various jobs. There was an inordinate number of nurse anets… nurse aneth… nurse anesthetists. (Why don’t they just change that term, for Pete’s sake. Even some of these people who work in the field struggle with it.) 

Tyler says that it’s important to help people see not just a promising salary but to also help them see a positive workplace experience. Andrew shares his opinion that most young people want immediate gratification. He says that the challenge is for the industry to communicate a cohesive message about the opportunities. He also makes the argument for returning shop class to school. 

Eddie refers to the sense of pride, confidence, and long-term comfort that comes with mastering a broad range of basic construction skills. When you know the basics of plumbing, electrical, framing–all of these things position you not just for employment but also for self-sufficiency.

We step away from the skilled trade conversation for a minute and ask Andrew about the coolest tool he’s seen recently. He mentions a robotic rebar-tier. 

Andrew’s Megaphone Message: We have a skilled trades gap. We can’t be reactive. We need to be proactive. We need to be out there discussing the benefits of plumbing, welding, and the other trades. From teachers and guidance counselors to parents and industry representatives, we need to show young people the picture of what success can look like in the skilled trades.

Find Andrew online: LinkedIn - Toolfetch - Youtube

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