Trades where you can still make a really good living

June 19, 2019 8:37 AM

I work in tech and I’m paid very well. (Low 6 figures after 22 or so years) I don’t know if I want to do this forever. Am I trapped? Also I don’t / can’t drive, and I want to continue living in San Francisco.

I fantasize about switching to a skilled trade like tiling or masonry, but I can’t see how you could do these without needing to drive. Most things don’t seem to pay well enough, even at the top levels. What unicorn trades are left?

It annoys me no end that what I do all day is valued so much more than people who actually make physical things in the world.

posted by flannel to Work & Money (26 answers total)

So, it sounds like you are at or near middle age at this point. It's not just driving that you need to do these jobs, it's physical stamina and lack of physical pain, the latter of which gets rare as you get older, even if you stay in shape. It's *(*&(*&(*& hard to clamber under a sink if your back is always acting up. You should very much keep this in mind when thinking about the trades.
posted by praemunire at 8:51 AM on June 19, 2019 [19 favorites]

Some other things to factor in with trades:
* In some trades, there is a larger supply of newer tradespeople than there are spots to fill. This is worth investigating deeply. I know people that have been waiting for "a spot" for 6 years.
* In some trades, there are rigid systems that require people to go through particular pathways in order to "make it." These can take years.
* In many trades, one must invest in an expensive set of tools and insure them and this upfront cost and continued expense eats into take-home money.
* In some trades, there are people who sort of know what they are doing that take up a lot of the work (lots of people can do basic wiring or plumbing).
* Getting into the right networks to get jobs is a lot of work too.

I'm not saying you shouldn't get into a trade, merely suggesting you look closely at the parameters.
posted by k8t at 8:52 AM on June 19, 2019 [8 favorites]

Cabinetmaking, I suppose.
posted by humboldt32 at 8:53 AM on June 19, 2019

It's also worth considering that the pathway to making a comparable living in the trades would be just as long as it has been in your industry. It's not like you take a summer workshop on bricklaying and then go out and make a hundred grand. Masons and plumbers and electricians and roofers and cement workers and carpenters and cabinetmakers and plasterers and contractors that make a good living have many years of experience under their belts.
posted by slkinsey at 8:56 AM on June 19, 2019 [21 favorites]

You could be retired with six figures and do any of these trades as a hobby?
posted by moiraine at 9:10 AM on June 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

Another caveat: if you present as female or are trans, you'll face an enormous amount of workplace discrimination and likely harassment in the trades, even more so than in tech. It is still almost overwhelmingly a men's club, and almost without exception the social atmosphere on a jobsite is extremely arrogant and misogynistic. And if you're doing work solo in someone's home, e.g. as a plumber, you'll be exposed to a whole lot of harassment and bullshit from creepy homeowners.

The best working conditions I've seen are basically odd-job contractors that specialize in employing women, e.g. "Girl Friday" type gigs, because they are generally on the job site in pairs and can back each other up.

The one trade that typically isn't horrible is interior decorator and/or painter, because by that time there's usually no one else around and/or you're there on a team with people you know.

Just a caveat there.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:11 AM on June 19, 2019 [7 favorites]

You sound exactly like my cousin. He works in tech but longed for a more physical job. The compromise he made with himself was to take welding courses at a local community college, work his way up to assisting, and then teaching courses. He does this while keeping his day job but he’s a happier person, he loves getting his hands dirty and sharing these skills with people entering the field.

Also no driving since the community college is on his local bus route!
posted by lepus at 9:22 AM on June 19, 2019 [29 favorites]

My grandfather worked for many years as an upholsterer. He maintained a shop on his property and his main customers were decorators. This was in the 80s in FL and he was able to live fairly comfortably. But he also built and maintained everything he owned by himself, including a few specialized tools. The biggest expense going in, I think, would be sewing machine, which was a big industrial one that used clear monofilament-type threads. He also had a variety of special shears, button-makers, a thing to make the welts, and so on. He did it for most of his entire life. What driving he did was to pick up and deliver pieces, but it wasn't like he was on the road all the time.
posted by jquinby at 9:25 AM on June 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

When people think of the skilled trades, they often think of either construction or residential maintenance. But there's a whole realm of skilled tradespeople working in large-scale facilities settings who show up to work at the same workplace every day. These include both maintenance trades (plumbers, electricians, pipefitters) and facilities operations roles (boiler operators, machinists, building system automation, etc.). If you can find a way to capitalize on whatever your tech background is, in a more trades-oriented setting, that might be a good avenue to explore. However, some of the better-paying options in this category may completely miss whatever itch it is you have to make something or work with your hands.

Obviously, trades pay well enough in SF for workers to survive in the Bay Area, otherwise SF wouldn't have any tilers or electricians. But they may not meet your particular income expectations.
posted by drlith at 9:26 AM on June 19, 2019

I know more than a couple folks who've bailed on white-collar careers to take up welding, and they've generally done well. Of course, I live in Houston, where COL is much lower and, crucially, welding jobs abound. The joke is that there's no such thing as an unemployed welder here, especially if you have the wherewithall to get training in the more technical or demanding types of work.

(To say nothing of underwater welding, which is its own special breed.)
posted by uberchet at 9:36 AM on June 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

Assuming tech = programming, as automation increases there will be steady/rising demand for people who can not only maintain equipment but tweak the programming. Industrial maintenance craves such people. Breaking in might be hard, as with anything, however.

And not being willing/able to drive to where the factories are could be a deal breaker (many such people are on call).
posted by booooooze at 9:47 AM on June 19, 2019

In your spot (and wow I'm not far off) I'd probably give up all other hobbies and start taking classes at a local makerspace. Facilities there are tradeswork-adjacent (including welding, which is definitely a skill I'm looking at too), and if you end up enjoying, say, woodworking, that's the sort of thing that can start as a hobby and transition to commissions or work as a cabinetmaker. Tougher but not impossible without driving.
posted by supercres at 9:55 AM on June 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

Two points:

Could you learn to drive?

And this is off topic (although maybe not, if you are thinking of changing careers!), but if you've worked in tech for 22 years (!) and you're in SF (!!) and you are paid in the low six figures then you are almost certainly not well paid. Take these numbers with a pinch of salt, but if you are an engineer see levels.fyi.
posted by caek at 10:08 AM on June 19, 2019 [11 favorites]

Obviously, trades pay well enough in SF for workers to survive in the Bay Area, otherwise SF wouldn't have any tilers or electricians. But they may not meet your particular income expectations.

It's quite possible for jobs to only pay enough that people can live on it in SF if they have family to live with, or a partner with higher income, etc. Whether you consider that 'paying enough to survive' is somewhat subjective.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 10:28 AM on June 19, 2019 [5 favorites]

I work in tech and I’m paid very well. (Low 6 figures after 22 or so years)

Kind of a derail, but low 6 figures is definitely not "paid very well" for tech in SF, especially for 22 YOE, unless by "low" you mean slightly less than $400k. If you mean "low" as in $125k or something, I'd look at switching to a job that's paying closer to the actual going rate for engineers in the Bay Area.
posted by sideshow at 10:28 AM on June 19, 2019 [10 favorites]

Maybe watch or clock repair would be a good trade. You don't have to do much heavy lifting, and as long as your eyesight is good, you'll be busy.
Up until recently I lived in Marin and there was a clock repair guy up there. He had a massive backlog of work.
You'll have to do a lot in order to get trained, though. And if you want to stay in SF, your other pain point will be finding and affording adequate real estate in which to run your business.
posted by cleverevans at 10:43 AM on June 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

Is there a disability that prevents you from driving (I can think of several) or are you just unwilling to learn?
If the latter, you should learn to drive first as a test of your ability to acquire new manual skills, if nothing else.
posted by w0mbat at 11:04 AM on June 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

As a note: of the tradespeople I know, the closest any of them (a cabinetmaker) lives to San Francisco is Pittsburg.
posted by wintersweet at 11:21 AM on June 19, 2019

Regarding welding, unless you get a job with a fabricator you'll need to drive. If you do get a job with a fabricator you'll need to obey the relevant AWS rules and will therefore probably end up wanting to be certified, but that can happen later (a CWI gets paid more).

...having said that, I've been looking for a skilled "proper" welder (ie., someone who does things the industrially-accepted way) who can teach classes at a local maker space for six months. Any time I find someone, even retired, they end up bowing out because they got a higher-paid gig, even just on casual weekend evenings (which is the time slot I'm aiming at). Anyone who can do competent welding (who knows what a WPS is, what PQR means etc) can get a job any day of the week in the Bay Area.

So consider welding, but consider learning it formally, so that you can do it "right" (again, that means doing what AWS thinks you should be doing; for structural welding, for example, this means following D1.1, sheet steel is D1.3, and so on). Also realize that AWS breaks welding down into a huge array of specialties -- you won't need to pick one at the outset, but you will probably end up with one some day.

Clock work is another good option, for that look at AWCI. They have classes and certifications as well. (Sorry for not having links, I'm on mobile)
posted by aramaic at 12:04 PM on June 19, 2019

Maybe counter-intuitively, auto mechanics might be a good fit. There is a real shortage of good mechanics, and much of cars is now computerized. You might be able to develop a specialty in diagnosing and fixing auto computer systems, perhaps at a high-end auto garage, where rich SF techies drop $$$ on their status cars. Not extraordinarily physical for someone likely in their 40's and above. If you worked for a garage or dealership, I think the employer provides the tools. They are expensive.

I'd look to community college for reasonably priced and excellent programs auto mechanics programs. My son did this in a gap year because he was fascinated with cars, and his dad and I refused to fund a nebulous "year off". He was also able to take advantage of a student discount on auto tools, half price I think. He didn't graduate from the program (it was 2 years) but there were multiple good job offers for every student. Experienced mechanics make good money, but not in the 400 k range, unless perhaps if you are with an elite racing team.

Even though you don't drive, once you got to the garage you would probably not need to drive, though you might be looked at askance when you asked your colleagues to drive cars on and off the lifts. If you were really good, I bet they'd work around it.
posted by citygirl at 12:50 PM on June 19, 2019

Best answer: It annoys me no end that what I do all day is valued so much more than people who actually make physical things in the world.

I need to preface this with an apology. My answer is probably not what you are hoping to hear, but in your question, I hear a lot of things that, let slide, could be outright disastrous for you. As someone who was in a similar (though much, much less well compensated) position, dissatisfied with their day to day job that paid well enough to have a comfortable life, I guess my only advice would be don't do it.

Don't just try to jump into a trade job because you're not crazy about what you're doing now. Simply asking about 'a trade job' rather than coming at this from a position where you already know what trade you'd want to pursue sets off alarm bells to me. Most trade jobs involve long periods of study, practice, and apprenticeship, and won't pay nearly what you'd be looking to make, at least not until after several years of expensive initial investments, if ever.

Moving from white collar work to physically demanding manual labor is never easy, let alone with someone who, I'm guessing, is in their forties? Every physical ache you have, every twinge you feel, that will be magnified. Your feet hurting will be the normal every day state of life. Your hands will ache. Your back will complain. This is the norm for people in middle age doing physical labor.

Aside from all of that, your unwillingness to drive is going to severely hinder any sort of work you might be able to do. Even if, say, you manage to find a workspace (in San Francisco, mind you) that eliminates the need to drive, just the sheer amount of travel to accumulate tools and raw materials is pretty staggering.

As far as pay goes, and making the same or similar money to what you make now, let's say you need someone to tile your shower, just to use the job you mentioned. Would you be willing to pay someone the equivalent of your own salary to do that work for you? I'm guessing you wouldn't, because that would be pretty crazy. And, let's say that you would, because that person is literally the Leonardo da Vinci of tile laying. How many years did they hone their craft to get to that point? Whatever you do, make sure you actually know what the pay rates and requirements are for whatever field you try to enter.

You ask if there are unicorn trades out there, and frankly, there aren't. Trade careers, especially at the level you're hoping to enter into, are the end result of an actual lifetime of work, practice, and experience, none of which you'll have, and you'll be literally playing catch up until the end of your physically viable days. It is a goddamn shame that we don't value crafts people and trades people more than we do, and that people can't pursue careers in them that result in fantastic wealth, but that's not going to change to fit you, or me.

That harshness aside, you have 22 years of acquired skills. If you aren't happy with what you're doing now, think about the skills, qualifications, and credentials you have. Look, seriously, into where you could transfer those skills to that might be more meaningful to you. Find that thing, that other application of the skills you've worked for that will bring you more meaning than you currently have, rather than just throwing everything away because you're not happy with how things are.

I did that. It didn't work out, for a lot of the reasons I listed above. And now I'm back to doing what I wanted to leave in the first place, a lot poorer, and in a position worse than the one I left.
posted by Ghidorah at 11:40 PM on June 19, 2019 [16 favorites]

I don't think it's impossible but you need to be comfortable with different challenges.

I'd suggest getting some solid research on 2 - 3 paths. First, what is attractive about the trades for you? Do you want to be hands on? Do you want to deal with clients and their demands or prefer to work autonomously? What level of physical exertion are you comfortable with? What's a target annual salary you'd be ok with? What's non negotiable for you?

Construction is booming in the Bay Area and I've heard crazy stories of contractor ghosting or no-showing because there is so much demand. General contractors charge around $50 - $65/hr. Another idea is that there's a gap in good construction project managers. The average overworked stressed homeowner would pay for someone to be professional, smart, low drama, good communicator, and get the job done.

There's also taskrabbit and other platforms where you can focus on offering some skilled work as a test run. Also helpful to see what's in demand and what's the going rate for skills.

One huge caveat is that there's definitely a class divide and sense of entitlement that results in consumers being really nasty jerks. (Eg auto repair) So you may want to talk with trade folks about their experience.

Feel free to memail me if you want other ideas.
posted by hampanda at 3:03 AM on June 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks for the great answers so far. I’m still digesting them, but wanted to make a few comments.

1. Thank you for your concern over my current pay, but my current pay is not a problem. People not in the Bay Area have been known to inflate what people who live in the Bay Area must make, and sites like Glassdoor are misleading. $400k maybe if you’re a director or founding member of a startup. Also, in tech does not necessarily mean a programmer.

2. I cannot legally drive. My vision in one eye is severely impaired, though it affects my daily life so little that I forgot to even clarify this. I didn’t consider that it, in and of itself, might be a barrier. (I also have total hearing loss in one ear. It also is not a daily problem for me, but I suppose it could be a barrier too.)
posted by flannel at 8:55 AM on June 20, 2019

Anything in the "general contracting" realm will net you good pay in SF. Since the 2008 crash, contracting firms haven't hired back the staff they had to let go then, so there are far, far fewer workers available than there are projects. Are you interested in doing electric work? Drywall? General carpentry? If so, consider taking a class or two at CCSF. Really, don't forget how much of a local resource they are. You might want to ask the same questions of the CCSF apprenticeship or construction trades folks.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 9:06 AM on June 20, 2019

Response by poster: Thanks again all. I think honestly the best answer is “don’t do it” and I marked it as such. I’m going to put more thought into what I would enjoy doing at the end of my career if I don’t want to continue what I’m doing now. To be clear, what I’m doing now is fine for now. I just don’t know if I want to do it for 30 more years, or if it will even be directly relevant in 30 years.
posted by flannel at 12:09 PM on June 20, 2019

Do you need to do it for 30 more years? Obviously I don’t know your situation (mortgage, dependents, etc) but if current work is really not fun/interesting I’d be looking at reducing my living costs as much as possible, saving/investing as much of my good salary as possible, and retiring as early as possible. And by “retiring” I don’t necessarily mean playing golf for the rest of my life, but having the flexibility to only work part-time, or doing occasional freelancing/contracting, or spending time learning something new that could be a hobby and/or could bring in a little bit of money.
posted by fabius at 8:24 AM on June 21, 2019 [1 favorite]