The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that U.S. businesses will see a 60% employee turnover rate in the next 10 years. Plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical trades will see 20% job growth over that same time period. Yet skilled trade workers are the most difficult for employers to find.
The average age for a plumber or heating technician is about 55, and many retire in their late 50s or early 60s because of health issues. But young people are not flocking to the trades as careers. Instead, they are lured into colleges with the promise of high-paying jobs in business, law, health care and the computer sciences.