When recessions hit, the blue-collar and service workers typically suffer the brunt of the damage.
Things are different this time. The trades have more job openings that can be filled and Wall Street, particularly tech companies, are laying off workers left and right.
Wall Street layoffs
A whole mess of companies have announced layoffs: Meta (formerly Facebook), Peloton, Re/Max, Shopify, Robinhood, Netflix, JP Morgan, Carvana, Walmart, and Amazon are just some of the companies that have announced corporate-level layoffs in the last couple of months.
That doesn’t even mention the job-cutting wrecking ball that Elon Musk is swinging through Twitter right now.
What happens to blue-collar workers this time?
While it may not be the blue-collar workers that take it on the chin this round this doesn’t mean that we will escape without damage.
Let’s not forget where the majority of our work comes from- white-collar workers buying and renovating homes.
The current pace of housing and housing prices can’t keep climbing as it has. Expect a small downturn in the housing market and a slowdown in your schedule.
Further, don’t forget, inflation isn’t going away and serves as an additional tax on everything that we buy.
What will happen to white-collar workers?
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to those looking for white-collar, middle-management jobs.
Do some of them end up in the trades? Will this encourage young, college-age people to think about trade school instead of getting on at a tech company?
Perhaps, these laid-off white-collar workers will reenroll in school and change careers which will drive up college enrollment prices even further.
Conclusion
While it doesn’t appear that the coming (or has it already started?) recession will hit the trades as hard as others you still want to be ready for anything.
After all, can you afford even a small slow-down in work? What if it’s an extended slowdown?
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