Best Blue-collar Jobs You Can Start Today With No Experience

Best Blue-collar Jobs You Can Start Today With No Experience

Can you imagine a robot electrician installing an entire HVAC system in your home? Or what about AI-programmed firefighters reaching out to save you in the case of a fire? You simply do not want to imagine this. While the AI and tech boom has sent ripples of automation in this decade, blue-collar jobs are what remain constant and continue to thrive. 35% of the top-growing jobs in the country right now are in blue-collar roles, and over 1.7 million positions are expected to open by 2032.

So, what might be fueling this growth in blue-collar jobs when the soon-to-be biggest generation, Generation Z, is not even interested in these roles? Well, many white-collar employees have pulled hands-on hiring this year, paired with the tech sector facing massive layoffs. This has created an obvious demand for skilled trades in the country with roles like electrician and plumber waiting to be filled.

Are you looking for roles that don’t need a fancy degree or years of experience to get started? This guide has brought you some of the best blue-collar jobs with no experience that will help you find your flooring in this already volatile job market and earn. Let’s get to it!

Why Go For Blue Collar Jobs with No Experience?

We live in a world that is now emphasizing more on fancy degrees that don’t make sense and spending nine hours in an office cubicle, but it’s your chance to get into blue-collar work. If you are wondering why you should consider blue-collar jobs with no experience, here’s your answer:

Job Stability

One of the best parts about working blue-collar entry-level jobs is that people value your contributions and you get a steady paycheck at the end of the day (or month). While AI might take over roles like developers and sales reps, nobody can cover jobs like electricians and plumbers. Unlike the tech sector where layoffs can feel like a threat looming over your head, blue-collar jobs give you stability.

Hands-On Experience

Do you enjoy working on hands-on jobs and seeing instant results of your work? Blue-collar jobs with no experience give you the satisfaction that comes with completing a task and knowing that you were useful in some way. The impact of your work is visible, and rewarding and is even celebrated by people you help. And as you gain experience, you start advancing in roles and carve your own path in this field.

Earning Potential

Let’s talk numbers: you might be surprised by how much blue-collar jobs can pay, even for those just starting out. Many entry-level positions in trades like plumbing, electrical work, or HVAC can offer salaries that go neck-to-neck with white-collar roles. And here’s a bonus: blue-collar jobs often come with the opportunity for overtime.

Best Blue-Collar Entry-Level Jobs You Can Start Right Now!

On the hunt for a job that doesn’t require years of schooling but still pays enough to keep the bills paid? Well, here are some of the best blue-collar jobs with no experience on the market that you can start right away!

Electrician

Where there’s demand, there’s an opportunity for you!

America’s constant demand for skilled electricians has just gone a whole new level with employment expected to grow 6% every year until 2032. To put this into scale, this is twice the rate of all other occupations and it will leave us with 73,500 job openings every year. Not a bad time to learn this trade, huh?

As an entry-level electrician, your usual responsibilities might include installing wiring, troubleshooting electrical systems, or assisting seasoned pros with repairs. Most electricians who don’t have much experience start with an apprenticeship that gives them hands-on training.

Average base salary: $29.10/hour

Plumber

Whether it’s a leaky faucet or a burst pipe, plumbing is a blue-collar job that never goes out of demand (because there will always be plumbing issues in our home!). The role of a plumber is an important one as it helps make sure that our water flows smoothly and safely, and that waste is disposed of properly.

Source: https://elements.envato.com/senior-plumber-repairing-sink-pipe-using-adjustabl-KHAU43V

To get started, you will typically need some vocational training and maybe add a few certifications under your belt. Many programs are hands-on to help you teach how to tackle situations and learn important skills.

Average base salary: $29.22/hour

HVAC Technician

HVAC technicians come in handy to install, repair, and maintain the air conditioning systems that keep us comfortable during every season. If you enjoy working with technology and solving problems, this might be the job for you!

Are you wondering how to get a blue-collar job with no experience in this field? Well, we would recommend you complete a training program or community college course in HVAC technology that will cover the basics of your field. Most states in the U.S. require HVAC technicians to have some certification to handle refrigerants. So, take the EPA 608 Certification and your chances of getting hired for an entry-level job will become even higher.

Average base salary: $28.92/hour

Home Health Aide

Here are some alarming facts for you: Between 2021 and 2031, the home health aide professional will be facing a turnover never seen in history. Every year, around 332,300 aides will either retire or leave the field due to other reasons. On top of that, 287,000 aides will choose a different career path, leaving a workforce gap too big to be filled.

If you feel that you have a passion for helping others and the medical field seems too daunting, then this role is the right fit for you. Here you will be responsible for giving support to those who need it the most, you’ll assist people with their daily activities, be their companion, and help them manage their healthcare needs.

Training for this role is often short and focused, covering essential caregiving skills like CPR and first aid.

Average base salary: $16.09/hour

Landscaping and Groundskeeping Worker

If you love being outdoors and taking care of nature, then a job in landscaping might be your calling. Whether it’s planting flowers, mowing lawns, or maintaining parks, landscapers play a crucial role in enhancing our surroundings.

Many entry-level positions offer on-the-job training, so you can learn while you work. Seasonal work can also provide flexibility, allowing you to enjoy your summers while working hard to keep the world beautiful.

Average base salary: $19.13/hour

Automotive Service Technician

Have you always dreamt of working in the automotive industry where you are surrounded by your favorite cars? As an automotive service technician, your day-to-day would start surrounded by shiny vehicles, tools at your fingertips, and the thrill of diagnosing and repairing a variety of makes and models.

In this job, you will become the go-to expert for keeping cars safe and roadworthy. Your responsibilities will include everything from routine oil changes and brake inspections to diagnosing engine issues.

Average base salary: $26.43/hour

Wrapping Up

Blue-collar jobs are a refreshing break from the traditional 9 to 5 hustle that most white-collar workers are now tired of. While working blue-collar jobs with no experience, you get the flexibility to be your own boss and work overtime, or not work on days you feel the Monday Blues arriving. And with the promise of solid earnings without having years of experience under your belt, a blue-collar job is truly a blessing in disguise for today’s workforce!

Skilled Trades Deficit: A Growing Threat to the U.S. Economy

Skilled Trades Deficit

While Generation Z — those born between 1997 and 2012 — is on track to become the most educated and ethnically diverse generation in history, they’re also showing little interest in skilled trades. Jobs like welding, electrical work, plumbing, and other hands-on roles are being overlooked, leaving these critical industries with fewer and fewer workers. According to McKinsey & Company, between 2022 and 2032, the need to hire skilled tradesmen will skyrocket, with demand expected to run past the rate at which new jobs are being created by 20 times. To put this into scale, companies would have to spend no less than $5.3 billion in talent acquisition and training costs every year.

But here’s where the problem becomes even more threatening: the number of young people applying for skilled trades jobs has just dropped dramatically — 49% since 2020. With Gen Z gravitating towards expensive college degrees and full-time content creation on Instagram or TikTok, the nation’s backbone industries are struggling to fill the trades gap which grows wider day by day. Without enough skilled workers, essential services we rely on, like our plumbers, could slow down or even collapse.

Let’s find out more about this skilled trades deficit and how we can make these careers appealing to the new generation again!

The Impact of the Skilled Tradesman Deficit on the U.S. Economy

You might be wondering, what is the trades gap we keep mentioning?

The COVID-19 pandemic created ripples of disruption in America’s workforce, eventually leading to quitting trends like The Great Resignation. While the trend gradually lost its effect, a big chunk of the country’s workforce decided to transition to different career roles in search of flexibility and better benefits. But the demand for skilled trades keeps on rising, creating a gap that impacts the US economy in the following ways:

Costly Hiring and Training New Employees

Naturally, the financial burden of tradesman shortage is felt by companies who are struggling to fill basic roles and are backed into a corner to resort to costly recruitment strategies. Every time a company loses an experienced tradesman, they lose both the expertise of that employee and now face the expenses of training a new worker for that position. And since fewer people are interested in learning skilled trades, companies have no choice but to offer higher wages and benefits to attract the scarce talent.

For industries that rely solely on these skilled tradesmen, like construction and manufacturing, these rising costs can be crippling.

Disruptions in Supply Chain

This trades gap is causing serious bottlenecks in the U.S. supply chain. Construction, maintenance, and manufacturing projects that once took months to complete now have to be pushed back due to no skilled tradesman available. It works like a domino effect. For instance, without enough electricians or HVAC technicians, a housing project could be delayed for months.

Economy Feels a Pinch

When businesses are forced to compete for skilled tradesman in this already shrinking pool of talent, wages hike too. While this might seem like a positive outcome for workers, it drives up the cost of services too. With fewer plumbers or electricians present to do the job, people like us who need their services would have no option but to pay higher fees. When prices for basic services start to rise, high inflation doesn’t seem like a distant possibility.

Dependency on Foreign Labor

The U.S. is forced to rely on immigrant labor to fill the shortage of skilled tradesmen.

In healthcare, for example, immigrants make up a big portion of the workforce, with 15.6% of all nurses and 27.7% of health aides being foreign-born. Similarly, in construction, one in four workers were immigrants in 2022. Immigrants have played a very important role in building the U.S. economy by stepping in where domestic interest has declined (like the case of Gen Z’s lack of interest), but this dependency comes with challenges.

Tight immigration policies and visa restrictions can make it difficult to bring in foreign workers and work on skill-based roles, which makes it an unsustainable solution to the trade gap.

What Can Be Done to Address this Skilled Trades Gap?

Of course, not all is lost, yet. There are still ways to mitigate this skilled trades gap domestically before it does serious damage to the U.S. economy.

Change the Mindset

You can’t change people for who they are, but you can certainly change their mindset. One of the important steps in closing this skills gap is to change how people perceive these careers. The younger generation has steered towards college degrees as a way to land high-paying jobs or start their own business, while skilled trades have been viewed as less prestigious or lucrative. To counter this, we need more initiatives that bring out the value and rewards of these skilled trades jobs. You must’ve heard of Mike Rowe’s campaign ‘Dirty Jobs’ which helps to resolve the stigma surrounding these careers and promotes skilled trades as respectable.

Make Vocational Training Compulsory

Vocational schools and apprenticeship programs give hands-on and practical training for tradesmen which can help promote these skills and attract young people towards it. Private companies can partner with trade unions and the government to create programs that teach essential skills like plumbing or welding and eventually place these people in long-term positions.

Financial Incentives Never Fail

It’s true, financial incentives can be the biggest attraction for people to learn skilled trades. These incentives could be in the form of tax breaks, scholarships, and grants for students who take vocational training to learn specific skills. For companies that have already employed skilled tradesmen, they should offer market-competitive wages and attractive benefits to retain this valuable talent.

Play Technology to Your Advantage

Gen Z is a digitally native generation which means most of their time is spent scrolling through platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. This is where businesses and organizations can strike to highlight the benefits of learning skilled trades and make it more appealing to the younger audience. Creating shareable and engaging content related to the financial rewards and technologies behind trades like plumbing or construction can help you reach Gen Z where they already are — online.

You could show day-to-day experiences, GRWM (get ready with me) videos, and success stories to rewrite the narrative of what the reality of being a skilled tradesman is. A useful tip: use User Generated Content to your advantage!

Wrapping Up

Without enough plumbers, electricians, welders and other skilled workers, the industries that keep the country running are at risk of stalling or slowing down.

But there’s still hope. A change of narrative is required which will start with a change of mindset and stigma around the topic of working on these skilled jobs. Technology can be used to target the younger people who are about to become the biggest generation in the current workforce.

The time to act is now—before the backbone of our economy starts to give in to the weight of this deficit.