Finally, mechanics are getting some respect.
For decades, young people were encouraged to attend university and get at least a four-year degree. Tradesmen, such as mechanics, electricians, and plumbers, were occupations for those incapable or uninterested in college educations.
That’s a rude statement, but I feel I can say it because, for a variety of reasons, I went the college-route and got a four-year degree before I became a mechanic. For years I’ve bit my tongue at the comment, “Oh, it’s too bad you wasted your degree,” while working alongside mechanics who were infinitely smarter than many of the so-called “brains” who lived in my college dorm.
My, how times have changed.
Young mechanics fresh out of tech school or apprenticeship can now make a third more income than their friends who attended university. And while their degreed friends struggle to find jobs to pay off humongous student loans, the young tradesmen often begin their careers debt-free thanks to sponsorships by the companies that now employ them.
As technology has flooded into heavy equipment design, it takes a smart, well-trained mechanic to work on modern equipment. High school counselors now encourage some of their brightest students to take mechanical aptitude tests to see if they have what it takes for a career in trades.
It still takes a special person to be a professional mechanic. Not everybody can do the work. But it’s nice to finally be recognized as a skilled trade, with appropriate pay.
Never enough pay, but … appropriate.