High School Welders Snag $70,000 Jobs as Skilled Trades Boom in the USA

Skilled trades are hot again, and high school juniors are cashing in with job offers up to $70,000, as employers scramble to fill gaps left by retiring baby boomers, according to the Wall Street Journal. From Philly’s welding shops to nuclear plants, companies are wooing teens with swag, internships and tech-heavy roles, reviving shop classes and sparking a new era for vocational training.

At Philadelphia’s Father Judge High School, welding instructor Joe Williams told the Wall Street Journal that all 24 seniors in his program have job offers starting at $50,000. Potential employers, including local transit systems and submarine builders, flock to his classes, dangling branded gear and pitching careers to hopeful graduates looking to forgo a four-year college degree that saddles them with debt. Across the U.S., businesses are partnering with schools, offering part-time gigs that blend cash with academic credit, while career fairs now buzz with trade recruiters.

The trades aren’t your grandpa’s toolbox anymore. Bob Walker of Global Affinity in Bristol, Pa., runs a $1.7 million steel laser cutter and needs tech-savvy kids to program it. "I'm not looking to hire the guy I used to have 20 years ago," he said, per the Wall Street Journal, with the business founder eyeing students comfy with computer diagnostics. Programs like Heavy Metal Summer Experience, a free camp for 900 teens at 51 locations around the country, introduce kids to trades including welding and plumbing, with many landing jobs post-graduation.

Constellation Energy’s nuclear plants offer maintenance and equipment-operator roles, paying as high as six-figures, to savvy high school grads. The company has partnered with SkillsUSA’s massive trade conferences, which draw hundreds of companies scouting for young talent. Schools like Bullard-Havens Technical High School in Connecticut now see waitlists for shop classes, with open houses pulling 1,000 visitors. As college-for-all fades, vocational education is roaring back, giving teens a fast track to fat paychecks free from college debt.