Solve Housing Issues; Teach Students Trades

As you are probably aware, in Montana there are many people and not enough places for them to live. There are many factors that lead to this problem, but one of them is a labor shortage. Many students such as myself have been told that the best path in life is going to a 4 year college and making a career out of it. This is not the only option and I think it is important for students to know that there are other options that can pay just as much as—if not more than—a job out of college. An article written by NPR that talks about alternative options to college informs us that 90% of construction companies are struggling to find qualified workers across the nation. As a student, I get emails from the school about college scholarship opportunities, but never about trade schools or other programs that could help my future.

Some are hesitant to promote trade jobs as good jobs; they see them as “dirty jobs.” But experienced trade workers can make $70,000 per year or more. Not only are these well paying jobs, but they can also have great retirement benefits. There is no shortage of students coming out of college unable to find jobs due to there being too many qualified workers in their fields. I think we should work to balance this. I propose that school counselors talk more about opportunities other than college. The counselors already do seminars in classes about a wide range of topics and only briefly touch on career opportunities that don’t require a college degree. If students were more informed, more would be going into trades. If more people are getting into trades, it will start to help the labor shortage and help get affordable homes built faster and more efficiently.

We have all clearly witnessed the housing crisis in Montana. It can even be seen in Bozeman with communities of RV trailers and motorhomes popping up. More and more people become homeless every day. With more homes available, more people can have spaces to live. The cost of rent may lower as well, since lower income housing can be built more efficiently when trade workers are more available. People taking advantage of these trade jobs will be making more money in these trades and will be able to afford to live in Bozeman even with inflation and rising prices. Simply informing students of other options can impact all of Bozeman, the rest of Montana, and maybe even the nation. Students need more resources to make better decisions about their future and the schools have the ability to provide these resources.