The Vocational Trades

Not everyone is interested in a white-collar job or college degree (or in racking up student loan debt). "Sunday Morning" senior contributor Ted Koppel meets plumbers and apprentices about their chosen profession, who talk about their work and why it's stigmatized by others.

When the 2008 recession hit homeowners - and home-builders - hard, more than 1.5 million residential construction workers left the industry. Fewer than half of those jobs have since been recovered, and few young people are looking to careers in construction, plumbing, welding, and other skilled trades. Mark Strassmann looks at the shortage of skilled labor (desperately needed to build or repair housing in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria) and talks with "This Old House" veteran Norm Abram and Mike Rowe, former host of the series "Dirty Jobs," about reconstituting America's blue-collar work ethic.