For a generation kids have been told they had to go to college to get a good job. Technical schools rebranded themselves as colleges, and hard trade skills and job experience were de-emphasized in favor of classroom instruction and theory. But as pool and spa professionals know, there are good careers in the trades, and if more people knew about the potential more would be choosing that path. The problem is that too few do, as anyone who has problems finding good help knows all too well.
A new mini-documentary from WorkingNation argues that the shortage of skilled workers is reaching crisis level and will affect a wide range of industries, then highlights a new nationwide skills competition that’s designed to attack the problem.
The 5-minute film shows how SkillsUSA partners with education and industry leaders across the country to to equip young workers and older career-changers with the skills and experience they need to begin careers in technical trade and service jobs.
Produced by WorkingNation, a nonprofit working to raise awareness of the shortage of in-demand technical and trade skills, the film follows 20-year-old Logan Thomas and others as they learn and practice in-demand trade skills as part of SkillsUSA’s TeamWorks competition.
It’s part WorkingNation’s “Do Something Awesome” series, which features mini-docs on programs across the country that are working to prepare Americans to enter the workforce. All films in the series are available at www.workingnation.com.
