High schoolers across the country, including some a year away from graduation, already have jobs lined up in skilled trades. Many of these jobs pay over $50,000 right out of high school, with some reaching into six figures just a few years out from leaving school. This comes as high schools across the nation in the past few years have begun to leave the college-for-all path that was pushed.
Among those young students interviewed by the Wall Street Journal were 17-year-old Father Judge junior Elijah Rios, who has received a job offer for when he finishes school with Global Affinity, the Bristol, Pennsylvania-based manufacturer. The Catholic school student, who has been taking welding classes, will be paid $68,000 per year.
Father Judge, a Philadelphia Catholic school, works closely with companies seeking skilled trade workers, as those in the industry are facing a shortage of workers with baby boomers coming to retirement age. The welding classrooms at the school are frequented by employers such as local transit systems and submarine manufacturers to pitch their workplaces to students.
"Sometimes it’s a little overwhelming—like, this company wants you, that company wants you," Rios said. "It honestly feels like I’m an athlete getting all this attention from all these pro teams."
An increased focus on recruiting high schoolers has led to a resurgence in shop classes, and businesses are teaming up with schools to help students work part-time and earn credits. Among those working to get younger workers into trades is Angie Simon, who served as the chief executive of a mechanical contractor in California until recently. She founded the "Heavy Metal Summer Experience" in 2021, which is a nonprofit summer camp in which high schoolers can be exposed to careers in the trades. In the summer of 2025, the program will enroll 900 students at 51 locations across the country free of charge.
"You got to stop thinking someone else is going to solve your problem," said Simon. The company she worked at previously had at times struggled to fill some roles. "Why don’t you do something about it?" Among those who have attended these summer camps is 18-year-old Jenny Cantrill, who works at Cannistraro, a plumbing and HVAC mechanical contractor. The company had hosted her summer camp.
Roxanne Amiot, an automotive instructor at Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Bullard-Havens Technical School, said that getting a foot into high schools early starts with offering internships. “I tell them, don’t call me for students when they graduate, grab them now when they’re 16 or 17, or I have nobody to work for you.” She said that a fall 2024 open house at the high school attracted a record 1,000 people, and her classes all have a wait list.
Dan Schnaufer who works as the service and body shop director at the nearby D’Addario Automotive Group, said, "The idea of growing your own talent has gotten more critical in recent years, when you have fewer and fewer people going into this industry." Those fresh out of high school can get around $50,000 per year and make around six figures within five years.
At Father Judge, the 24 seniors graduating from the welding program in 2025 all have job offers lined up, starting at $50,000 per year, welding instructor Joe Williams said. Employers are increasingly reaching out to him every semester.
One senior at the school, Aiden Holland, will be working as a nuclear submarine welder at a defense contractor in New Jersey, with a pay of $75,000 per year. “It feels good knowing we’re very, very much in demand,” he said.
