National Careers in Trades Week Builds Awareness for Rewarding, Essential Skilled-Trade Jobs

National Careers in Trades Week, April 6-10, comes at an opportune time for people seeking rewarding, essential careers with excellent pay and strong benefits, including healthcare and pensions. While U.S. workers are experiencing a stagnant job market with fewer job postings and positions that are harder to secure, well-compensated skilled-trade job openings keep growing due to infrastructure and other projects vital to the economy.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, professions in the skilled trades will experience faster-than-average job growth between 2024 and 2034, with the Occupational Outlook predicting over 600,000 construction job openings each year and a median annual wage of $58,000 (up from $55,000 in 2025), remaining higher than the median for all occupations. They also do not result in debt that can accompany a college path. And according to Construction Labor Research Council, nationwide, workers are averaging pay hikes above 4%, as employers look to attract and retain workers in a tight labor market.

New research conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractor’s National Association shows that 75% of teens aged 13-18 would consider a trade job over going to college. The most compelling reasons for teens opting for a trade over college are higher pay, good benefits and paid apprenticeships, cited by 30% of teens. Other considerations that would sway a teen to the trades include opportunity to be promoted (24%), knowing a job is vital to the economy (21%) and the number of available trade positions growing faster than the average job (19%).

In addition to the sheet metal and HVAC industries, the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers and International Training Institute who led the initiative in 2025, other leading trade groups have joined National Careers in Trades Week to build awareness for all they have to offer and how their disciplines leave lasting legacies on society. These include the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, National Energy Management Institute, the National Electrical Contractors Association and the Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust.

Throughout National Careers in Trades Week, cross-industry visibility efforts will showcase the benefits of choosing careers in the skilled trades among job seekers and the American public. The goal is to fill the hundreds of thousands of jobs essential to national and global economies and infrastructure projects including, for example, the construction of chip plants, stadiums, healthcare facilities, factories and data centers. As categorized by the BLS, skilled trades encompass a wide range of professions that typically require specialized training or apprenticeships essential for industries such as construction, manufacturing, energy and transportation. Key examples include sheet metal workers, HVAC technicians, electricians, pipefitters, welders, plumbers, masons and carpenters.

The 2026 research was conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of the SMACNA among 500 U.S. parents of children currently enrolled in high school or college between Jan. 13-21, using an email invitation and online survey.