Checking in from an old auto town. Our region is exactly the opposite of yours. We are saturated with jobless gear-heads but there's HUGE demand in healthcare.

Checking in from an old auto town. Our region is exactly the opposite of yours. We are saturated with jobless gear-heads but there's HUGE demand in healthcare. Shop techs around here make ~$10-15/hr, aren't guaranteed 40, no benefits, never get overtime, and there's no upward mobility unless you start your own shop (which for almost everyone requires taking out a big loan, and most attempts flop). Finding work is easy, but you can do MUCH better in the service industry or in healthcare. Hell, I have a relative who breeds dogs because it pays better than the auto work he can find after his last attempt at opening his own shop failed. But the hospitals are starving! With a Bio grad degree, the hospitals would pay you to get into nursing. From there, with the degree, it's easy to get into a PA program. And there's insatiable demand for PAs. > You wouldnt believe how many trades pay close to six figures that are incredibly understaffed My general observation, at least in our region, is that six figures are a high water mark, not an average. Six figures for the last ten years is A LOT different from six figures for all thirty years. And even the last 10 years is wishful thinking. But again, the recently closed factory might've put a huge downward pressure on salaries throughout the trades in our region. I think that "trades are the answer" is just as stupid as "college is the answer". Inserting "community" into "just go to college" doesn't change the fundamental problem with the advice, which is that it's suggesting a global heuristic for a problem that has varying solutions from region to region and especially from person to person. It's not about "trades vs. white collar". It's all about knowing the (regional) labor market.