Reasons to Stop Ignoring the Skills Gap
&gt; But no one seems to want them, and the reasons have nothing to do with low pay, poor benefits, or a lack of available training.<p>This is laughable. The average plumber makes around $50,000  and will top out around $80,000[0]. And those wadges have flat lined over the last 15 years[1]. Not to mention, it&#x27;s painful work climbing under cabinets, kneeling down and standing up with heavy work belts, and contorting your body into every little nook and cranny. It takes its toll on your body over a period of time, as does the vast majority of manual labor jobs that are out there. So why would the son or daughter of a plumber go into the work when (s)he sees her dad complain about how the industry has gone to hell? I guess this is confusing to Mike Rowe.<p>Let&#x27;s imagine for a minute that an entry level plumber could make $250,000 a year after a year long apprenticeship that paid him&#x2F;her $60,000. There would be zero problems filling these position with top notched candidates. Zero. So to say pay and benefits are not the problem, misdiagnoses skills gap.<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bls.gov&#x2F;oes&#x2F;current&#x2F;oes472152.htm" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bls.gov&#x2F;oes&#x2F;current&#x2F;oes472152.htm</a>
[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;city-salaries.careertrends.com&#x2F;l&#x2F;116610&#x2F;Plumbers-Pipefitters-and-Steamfitters-in-Providence-Fall-River-Warwick-Rhode-Island" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;city-salaries.careertrends.com&#x2F;l&#x2F;116610&#x2F;Plumbers-Pipe...</a>