Trades are supposed to be wide open. At least, that’s the myth people like to repeat – that blue-collar jobs are desperate for help, begging for apprentices, practically handing out tool belts and pensions to anyone who walks in.
In a Reddit post titled “No, the trades aren’t hiring,” a frustrated electrician put it bluntly: “I’m so sick and tired of this worn-out idea that blue-collar jobs are looking for apprentices to come work for them.” After hitting a wall with multiple companies, he said the reality seemed less like an opportunity and more like a closed circle of insiders — “filled with more nepotism and gossip than any other industry I’ve ever been in.”
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He did not lack experience. He had four years with one electric company, listed detailed project work on his applications, and cited high-level references. Still, he was dismissed like an outsider. “I even went back to my old electric company that I worked for 4 years. You know what they said? ‘Apply online and go talk to HR.’ No hiring manager in the store, no chance to talk to someone for recognition.”
Instead of a callback, he received a rejection email a week and a half later: “Thank you for applying. After careful consideration…”
One of the few offers he received came from a company he described as hitting every red flag. “‘Only meth heads and divorced alcoholics work here,'” he wrote. “‘F*** OSHA.'” Everywhere else, he said, gave some version of “no.”
And it wasn’t just one city. He said he went to every electricity company in town. Most of them required a two-year technical or trade school degree – just to offer $15 an hour starting pay. Even the much hyped unions were not the solution: “Bro, just go Union!” someone will inevitably say. But as he pointed out, “unions are sustained for a long time.”
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In the responses, commenters on the thread echoed the frustration, not just in trades but in all careers. One user noted that the same tired cycle appears everywhere: “Every market and everyone and their mother will have a ‘just learn to code’ variant,” referring to how every field is touted as a magic bullet but it doesn’t deliver.
Another joked that for a while the answer across industries was “just go to law school,” and health care workers shared their own malaise, with one saying they almost faced a layoff because Medicare reimbursements dried up.
Some in IT said they face similar hurdles even with in-demand tech skills, and one pharmacist described multiple layoffs in a short period. Another commenter pointed out that even jobs in health care and administration can be difficult to secure, with employers citing distance from the workplace as a reason to reject candidates.
The wider labor market helps explain some of this dissonance. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were about 7.7 million job openings in October — a high number overall, but not evenly distributed across industries, and not always significantly accessible to applicants without credentials or specialized connections. At the same time, unemployment sat near historic lows but rose slightly as the labor market shows signs of softness, with broad averages hiding pockets of intense competition and stagnant hiring processes for some roles.
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In trades specifically, demand data tell a mixed story. Many sectors such as HVAC, electrical and plumbing are predicted to grow over the next decade as infrastructure work and retirements create openings. But that growth does not automatically translate into entry points accessible to every applicant. Employers often list openings that go unfilled for reasons ranging from credential requirements to slow hiring pipelines. Additionally, job openings across the US continue to outnumber hires, suggesting that getting in the door is more difficult than the headlines imply.
Knowing how to fit a panel and having experience does not guarantee a shot at a job. Despite the traditional message that the trades are a stable path with apprenticeships and union routes, his experience has shown that many companies still prefer bureaucracy, screens, and gatekeeping to actually bringing in and mentoring new talent.
In a job market that feels unpredictable and uneven, what looks like an opportunity on the surface can turn out, for many applicants, to be another maze of forms, filters, and dead ends — even in areas that are said to be desperate for workers.
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This article ‘Just Go Union’? An Electrician Has Applied At Every Company In His Town And Says The Blue Collar Apprentice Pipeline Is Worn Out, Backlogged, and Gatekept originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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