Comments on: Trading a white collar for blue

By: Annie

Annie — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:51:41 +0000

Best of luck, Dave! Will you let us know how it goes? I for one would like to know!

By: Dave, Parsippany, NJ

Dave, Parsippany, NJ — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:16:48 +0000

I’m in IT Management and under imminent threat of losing my job, as are the 350 other IT people at my location. One very common thread in discussions around the water cooler are how so few of us want to stay in the corporate world if we are all let go.

People are talking about this very move, from white collar to blue collar, myself included, with conviction feeling burnt out and worn down not by the work of a desk job but rather by the politics and bureaucracy that inevitably follows.

All I can say I’ve already planned out the trade I’ll be taking up and all those slacks and collared shirts will be the first clothes I wear into the workshop to dirty up!

By: Roger, Raleigh, NC

Roger, Raleigh, NC — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:05:11 +0000

White Collar Blues’ BIL example does not lead to the question of whether it would be good to go back to trade school. His BIL created his own small business which is not the same as working in a shop as a tradesman. BIL’s success is related to business ownership, not just due to his trade. WCB going back to electrician trade school gets him to be a tradesman, not so much a successful small businessman.

Mark is right. There is nothing wrong with moving from the cube to the welding or wood shop, but note that the benefits can be tenuous. Many times you don’t get paid if you get hurt so you have to protect yourself in ways that corporate people take for granted.

I grew up in a factory and I learned quickly that college and a desk job was a lot easier on the body. After about 40-50, you slow down due to the physical wear if you are hammering all day. Developing software or business analysis can be done until you die if you keep the brain active.

Most college graduates would be better off going back to school in another, possibly related, field rather than shifting to a trade.

By: Mark, Dearborn, Mi.

Mark, Dearborn, Mi. — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:36:46 +0000

I have been an auto repair tech for twenty-five years. I have always made good money and felt as though I would never wonder where my family’s next meal would come from. That was until I turned 40 and was diagnosed with arthritis. My physician says its probably as much to do with my career as it is genetics.

I returned to college at that time to prepare for a second career. Though
I would never try to persuade someone from entering the trades, I would advise them to keep all avenues open. Trades are difficult work physically and I don’t think one should bank on retireing from them. Who really thinks they can be as productive when they are 65 as when they were 30 when performing such demanding work? I see plenty of investment bankers in their 80s. Warren Buffett for starters, Kirk Kerkorian is another example, and I’m positive there are plenty more.