- Some plumbers earning $90,000 as job openings go unfilled
- Steered toward college, ‘I never knew this was an option’
Like other college prep schools, Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School north of Tampa, Florida, touts its 100 percent college acceptance rate to burnish its image and recruit students.
This year it could fall short of that mark for the first time in a while. Instead of shooting for the University of Florida or another four-year college, graduating senior Cassian O’Neill is leaning toward installing water heaters and fixing leaky toilets as a plumber.
“I don’t want to sit at a desk all day and work on a computer,” said Cassian, 19. “I want to do more hands-on work, so I thought the best way to do that was being a plumber or an electrician or a welder. The amount of money plumbers are making is definitely decent and it can always go up because so few people know how to do that work.”
Indeed, the 40 plumbers at Superior Plumbing in Atlanta earn around $90,000 in wages and commissions — about 70 percent higher than the region’s average income. Owner Jay Cunningham figures he could immediately fill 20 more plumbing jobs if he could find people with the right set of skills and a presentable appearance and demeanor. He blames the talent shortage on parental bias for college over the trades.