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How education, pay and purpose has renewed interest in trade jobs
Trade-school enrollment grew 3.2% annually from 2019 to 2024 as younger workers seek paid apprenticeships and purposeful, hands-on concrete masonry careers.
- With backing from the Concrete Masonry Checkoff, Shaver launched the Junior Blocklayer program to give youth fun, hands-on masonry challenges and share his experience as an educator and mentor.
- Younger workers are rethinking what makes a good job, as National Center for Education Statistics data show undergraduate enrollment fell about 15% while trade-school attendance rose 2019–2024, and Deloitte found roughly nine in 10 value purpose.
- Partnerships, scholarships and hands-on learning aim to bridge classroom instruction and real-world craftsmanship, as the Concrete Masonry Checkoff has reestablished ties with more than a dozen colleges and universities.
- Paid training and clear wage progression give immediate financial returns for new tradespeople, with registered apprenticeships paying from day one and construction workers earning a median annual wage of $58,360.
- Shaver emphasized hands-on engagement, saying 'Once you get a few blocks in someone's hands, that's when buy-in really starts', while industry leaders stress creating tangible connections to grow masonry as a craft that builds lasting work.
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How education, pay and purpose has renewed interest in trade jobs
(BPT) - Growing up, Ryan Shaver — executive director of the North Carolina Masonry Contractors Association (NCMCA) — hadn't planned on pursuing a career in the trades. But everything changed in 1989 when he enrolled in a high school masonry…
·Flint, United States
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Total News Sources79
Leaning Left4Leaning Right4Center27Last UpdatedBias Distribution77% Center
Bias Distribution
- 77% of the sources are Center
77% Center
12%
C 77%
11%
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