- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: New figures on apprentice trade pay vs. new college grad pay
Posted on 8/13/25 at 9:53 am to Darth_Vader
Posted on 8/13/25 at 9:53 am to Darth_Vader
quote:
Agree with you here. We’re pushing so many kids to go to college, take on massive debt, and they’ll end up in jobs that really don’t give a good return on the investment in college. That’s really my thing. I’m a firm believer in getting a return on an investment that makes the investment worth it. For a lot of college degrees, it just isn’t.
see this is the problem....everyone wants to go out of state or to some huge college...you dont need to do that. If you have the money sure, if not much better off going to smaller regional college while working.
dont equate people making dumbass decisions, like the girl going out of state to auburn, as college=bad
and if we are going to talk ROI, the median HS grad in america earns 1.6 million over their working life. The median for those with a Bachelors is 2.8 million. it jumps to 3.2 for those with a masters and 4 for thoses with a doctoral and if talking professional degrees like a Professional engineer, Doctor, Lawyer, CPA the median jumps to 4.7
so is the median of 1.2 million over their working life not a good ROI when talking a 40-50k up front investment? lets say massive interest and you pay 100k....still making over a million more for the median Bachelors degree holder....not your engineer or cpa...just basic bachelors degree holder.
not even talking % of unemployment time.
but the medians show a very very clear advantage in lifetime earnings
quote:
I think the trades are good for some. For starters, we have to have skilled tradesmen for society to function. And let’s be honest, college isn’t for everyone. Nothing wrong with that. Some immature kids on here look down their nose at people who work in the trades. That just shows how insecure and petty they are. Anyone who works, supports themselves and their family, I respect that.
i respect that too....but that is not what we are talking about here. We arent saying nobody should go in the trades or that we dont need them....quite the opposite. If you are not atleast an above average student then certainly the trades are a very good thing.
but we are saying...stop saying that the trades are a better ROI than getting a Bachelors degree and stop throwing out one offs of people you know or throwing out untrue numbers or saying that going into the trades is a much better path and acting like it so easy to open a business and become the millionaire next door. because thats BS
we are simply saying stop romanticizing the trades as if they are the much better path to a good life because its quite the opposite. and this seems to mainly be coming from the white collar sector.
I work in a plant on the white collar side....I can promise at 2pm I could walk up to any of the field guys and ask them if they wished they would have paid attention more in school and got a degree so they could be working in the AC and 99% would say yes. If you asked them if they would want their sons to follow the same path as them...99% would say they would want their sons to go to college so they didnt have to kill their body
but got guys working in an office posting on TD saying....trades are the path to prosperity. its a fricking clown take.
1
Posted on 8/13/25 at 9:55 am to DCtiger1
quote:
You get joy out of constantly being an a-hole and fricking with people on the internet
You get joy out of getting in a thong and having other men look at you but I don’t judge you
Posted on 8/13/25 at 9:57 am to Darth_Vader
quote:
I think the trades are good for some. For starters, we have to have skilled tradesmen for society to function. And let’s be honest, college isn’t for everyone.
Education is largely wasted on most people for certain...all you have to do is listen to most people have a conversation to know this is true. That said we do indeed need tradespeople...the problem is we do not need them when they are 40 years old and not the physical specimen they were in their 20s. Full retirement age is currently 67. Thats about 32 years past the prime of most tradespeople's physical ability to do the work AND the height of their skill and knowledge. From 18 - 25 they are learning the basics. from 25-30 they are becoming journeyman level trades people and from 30 to 40 they are mastering their trade. Unfortunately most people somewhere around 40 also start to have some physical problems that make them less attractive as employees. They still have 27 years of a career ahead of them. Short of making it possible financially for them to retire at say 45 or so there is no fix for this...and early retirement in the trades is unrealistic from a broader economy perspective. This is one reason we will continue to have a shortage of skilled tradespeople for the foreseeable future...no matter how many 18 year olds decide to enter a trade by the time they are 45 and 22 years from FRA many will no longer be truly employable in the trade. I know for a certainty about half of those who enter my trade, electrician, straight out of high school make about a year when they decide it ain't for them. By the time the other half is 30 about half again have found another way to earn a living. It gets worse in the following years of life. Just a simple fact of life. finishing concrete is damned demanding work and is done most efficiently by someone with about 5-10 years experience and under the age of 35.
Posted on 8/13/25 at 9:58 am to Mingo Was His NameO
Never happened. Do you ever come up with new material or stick to the same tired horseshite?
Posted on 8/13/25 at 9:58 am to DCtiger1
quote:
o you ever come up with new material or stick
1. It’s schtick
2. Only when I need to
Posted on 8/13/25 at 9:59 am to DesScorp
quote:
quote:
It is an anti-education agenda that is being driven that is the same old chestnut that capital has employed against labor since the dawn of civilization
Leon frickin' Trotsky over here.
LOL!
Posted on 8/13/25 at 10:11 am to lsu777
quote:
Of course when considering a job you look at those things, but only a douche bag tells someone what they make and includes benefits
Because most white collar guys have all that plus more. Pet peeve of mine when people include that when talking salary
I include benefits in wages for tradespeople when having these discussions because I know from experience that tradespeople and professionals both have a misconception of one another is earning. I have managed large groups of Union tradespeople, degreed engineers and "field" engineers simultaneously multiple times in my career. The reason I always include benefits can be illustrated anecdotally....I have had this conversation multiple times over the years...
Pipefitter -"I made $110,000 last year but I worked a good bit of OT"
Me - "How much were your benefits?"
Pipefitter - "I don't know"
Me - "I do, they were about half that give or take and you earned every penny of it".
Degreed mechanical engineer "I earned $159k last year"
Me - "How much of that was overtime"
Engineer - "I am salaried....I don't get paid for overtime"
Me - "so you only worked 40 hours a week less any paid leave you took?"
Engineer - "Nooooo....I worked 6 -10s most of the year".
Me - "How much did your insurance cost out of your salary?"
Engineer - "about $900 a pay period"
Me - "What about your retirement"
Engineer - "I have 10% withheld and the company matches 5%".
And there in lies the reason for including benefits....the pipefitter also has health insurance and a pension plan, most of the time he has no idea what it is costing HIM because it is not shown on a pay stub as salary...while the salaried professional knows full well what it is because he sees it deducted from his....so he thinks he made $159K and the fitter made $110k for the same number of hours worked less paid leave for the engineer that the pipefitter probably does not have but the pipefitter actually earned about $200K based on the amount of benefits he earned for the year....and I have had these kinds of conversations so many times in my career I could not begin to count them.
Posted on 8/13/25 at 10:29 am to lsu777
I am literally just talking about working in blue collar roles v. white collar ones
Some folks prefer one or the other. Instead of agreeing or even following along you, as usual, go all out on the attack.
You seem like you’ve made good decisions. Quit being insecure about them.
Some folks prefer one or the other. Instead of agreeing or even following along you, as usual, go all out on the attack.
You seem like you’ve made good decisions. Quit being insecure about them.
Posted on 8/13/25 at 10:31 am to Sun God
quote:
Some folks prefer one or the other.
Yeah, a super majority prefer the white collar one, especially those that have tried the blue collar one
Posted on 8/13/25 at 10:35 am to AwgustaDawg
quote:
I include benefits in wages for tradespeople when having these discussions because I know from experience that tradespeople and professionals both have a misconception of one another is earning. I have managed large groups of Union tradespeople, degreed engineers and "field" engineers simultaneously multiple times in my career. The reason I always include benefits can be illustrated anecdotally....I have had this conversation multiple times over the years...
Pipefitter -"I made $110,000 last year but I worked a good bit of OT"
Me - "How much were your benefits?"
Pipefitter - "I don't know"
Me - "I do, they were about half that give or take and you earned every penny of it".
Degreed mechanical engineer "I earned $159k last year"
Me - "How much of that was overtime"
Engineer - "I am salaried....I don't get paid for overtime"
Me - "so you only worked 40 hours a week less any paid leave you took?"
Engineer - "Nooooo....I worked 6 -10s most of the year".
Me - "How much did your insurance cost out of your salary?"
Engineer - "about $900 a pay period"
Me - "What about your retirement"
Engineer - "I have 10% withheld and the company matches 5%".
And there in lies the reason for including benefits....the pipefitter also has health insurance and a pension plan, most of the time he has no idea what it is costing HIM because it is not shown on a pay stub as salary...while the salaried professional knows full well what it is because he sees it deducted from his....so he thinks he made $159K and the fitter made $110k for the same number of hours worked less paid leave for the engineer that the pipefitter probably does not have but the pipefitter actually earned about $200K based on the amount of benefits he earned for the year....and I have had these kinds of conversations so many times in my career I could not begin to count them.
99% of engineers are not working more than 45-50 hours a week unless they are hourly.
most engineers can do on the company portal and see exactly how much benefits are and how much the company is contributing.
we agree for the most part and i laid out the numbers above...the median HS grad will make 3.1 million less than a degree professional over the working lifetime.
and just remember in your scenerio most tradesman are not union in the south so they arent getting 100k in benefits...hell even those that are arent.
Posted on 8/13/25 at 10:35 am to Mingo Was His NameO
That’s a much more rational response than lsu777 stroking out for the millionth time
Posted on 8/13/25 at 10:37 am to Sun God
quote:
I am literally just talking about working in blue collar roles v. white collar ones
Some folks prefer one or the other. Instead of agreeing or even following along you, as usual, go all out on the attack.
You seem like you’ve made good decisions. Quit being insecure about them.
im not on the attack.. quite the opposite. the OP was about how apprentice make more than recent college grads using some made up figure that isnt close to reality in louisiana or texas where most of the boards posters are located
Im anything but insecure about it. I have done both...Im quite happy with my decisions.
I wouldnt trade my time in the field but TD as usual makes it seem like the trades are amazing and only a dumbass goes to college. Its a clown take
Posted on 8/13/25 at 10:55 am to AwgustaDawg
quote:
I include benefits in wages for tradespeople when having these discussions because I know from experience that tradespeople and professionals both have a misconception of one another is earning. I have managed large groups of Union tradespeople, degreed engineers and "field" engineers simultaneously multiple times in my career. The reason I always include benefits can be illustrated anecdotally....I have had this conversation multiple times over the years...
Pipefitter -"I made $110,000 last year but I worked a good bit of OT"
Me - "How much were your benefits?"
Pipefitter - "I don't know"
Me - "I do, they were about half that give or take and you earned every penny of it".
Degreed mechanical engineer "I earned $159k last year"
Me - "How much of that was overtime"
Engineer - "I am salaried....I don't get paid for overtime"
Me - "so you only worked 40 hours a week less any paid leave you took?"
Engineer - "Nooooo....I worked 6 -10s most of the year".
Me - "How much did your insurance cost out of your salary?"
Engineer - "about $900 a pay period"
Me - "What about your retirement"
Engineer - "I have 10% withheld and the company matches 5%".
And there in lies the reason for including benefits....the pipefitter also has health insurance and a pension plan, most of the time he has no idea what it is costing HIM because it is not shown on a pay stub as salary...while the salaried professional knows full well what it is because he sees it deducted from his....so he thinks he made $159K and the fitter made $110k for the same number of hours worked less paid leave for the engineer that the pipefitter probably does not have but the pipefitter actually earned about $200K based on the amount of benefits he earned for the year....and I have had these kinds of
This is some delulu shite right here. 
Posted on 8/13/25 at 10:58 am to TigerReich
quote:
The way I look at it, a college degree doesn't raise your compensation ceiling, but it does raise your floor.
tell that to the people with college degrees working at starbucks. Also tell that to the people that reach a point where they cant go any further because they dont have a degree.
Posted on 8/13/25 at 11:00 am to Scruffy
quote:
Sure, but you are still leaving with ~$100k in debt, and that is if you go the bare minimum.
An 18 year old should not be allowed to take on $100k in non-dischargeable debt with zero idea of future income.
That is insane.
What? How do you get $100k in debt from $10k a year in school cost? 2ndly, there's tons of scholarships out there. Most kids if all they want to do is get a college degree, can work their way through school and finish damn near debt free at a state school. That's without any help from parents. Tons of states have scholly programs now, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, in the southeast.
I knew plenty of kids I went to school with that had really no help from parents, worked their way through school as a bartender, landscaper, etc. and finished with almost no doubt and paid all of their bills in regards to rent, food, etc.
Posted on 8/13/25 at 11:04 am to CarRamrod
quote:
tell that to the people with college degrees working at starbucks
How many people at Starbucks would you want as a tradesman? You think I want them showing up to help build my new home? I doubt they would last 3 hours on an industrial site.
That analogy is incredibly dumb.
Posted on 8/13/25 at 11:05 am to Sun God
quote:
That’s a much more rational response than lsu777 stroking out for the millionth time
nobody is stroking out man
i just said, i wouldnt change my time in the field, i learned a lot and learned a ton of managerial skills
i just get tired of the straight lies when it comes to how much avg trades man makes when these post come up
or how most white collar guys on here want to encourage everyone to send their kid into the trades.
its simply anti education BS and a form of gate keeping
the trades are certainly a good route for many and should be pushed. but lets not act like we have too many college grads in LA, only 27% has a degree, only 37.7% in the US(25 and older)
are the trades a viable path...sure...but lets not glorify it that its better than having a bachelors degree because all metrics point to that being false.
Posted on 8/13/25 at 11:05 am to baldona
$10k loan + $20k living expenses x 3 = $90k
And that’s only 3 years.
It sounds nuts, but I’m sure people do this somehow
And that’s only 3 years.
It sounds nuts, but I’m sure people do this somehow
This post was edited on 8/13/25 at 11:06 am
Posted on 8/13/25 at 11:07 am to AwgustaDawg
Raise standards for high school and quit passing everybody for no reason. If you can’t passed high school you get a free ticket to work in the trades….
Sounds dumb but it could possibly work.
Sounds dumb but it could possibly work.
Posted on 8/13/25 at 11:36 am to DesScorp
Now do that after culling out the degrees for sociology, queer theory, general degrees, and pretty much any non-stem degree and then make that same comparison.
Page 9 of 12
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News