Penna Dexter

Amidst a push to bring manufacturing back to our shores, many communities are bringing shop classes back to their high schools.

According to the Wall Street Journal, as baby boomers retire, companies are looking for workers in the skilled trades, but there simply aren’t enough young adults trained in plumbing, electrical work, and welding. Some businesses are beginning to look at high school students — and not just as future hires. Some companies want them now, or at least soon. School districts are getting on board by resuscitating the shop class and giving manufacturers tables at their job fairs.

In some cases, “businesses are teaming up with high schools to enable students to work part time, earning money as well as academic credit.” Employers told the Journal this is a strategy that “is likely to become more crucial in the coming years.”

Most industries are tech-infused and seek younger “workers who are comfortable programming and running computer diagnostics.” They need tech-savvy workers to run advanced equipment.

According to the Journal’s report, “The smartest employers get a foot into high schools early.” They’re attracting high school students by running summer camps to expose them to careers in the trades. They are offering internships and “shadowing” opportunities at workplaces and are sometimes even dropping by to meet students at school and see them in action.

One welding instructor told the Journal that employers regularly visit his classroom, bringing “branded swag, and offering students jobs when they graduate.”

For many reasons, college is no longer a given, even for the smart kids. In fact, smart kids everywhere are rejecting the “college-is-for-all mindset” Smart parents are considering the cost, especially when their students don’t have career goals that require college degrees. They’re advising caution about student debt.

Some smart kids are forgoing the student debt for financial freedom by starting well-paid skilled-trade jobs right out of high school.

Shop class isn’t for everyone. But, neither is college.