The Demand Gap: Trades vs. Beauty

When your roof leaks, you don’t call a massage therapist. When your wiring shorts, you don’t call a nail technician. Our economy is screaming for people who can fix, build, maintain, and repair. However, many post-high school options focus too heavily on beauty, wellness, and cosmetology. That may check boxes of “creative careers,” but it doesn’t address the real skills gaps—and opportunity—for people who want to build things that last.

If trade schools lean heavily into massage, cosmetology, and spa arts, we’re missing the chance to train the people who will wire our cities, heat our homes, weld our infrastructure, and maintain our energy grids.

🧠 The Reality Check

Here’s what’s really happening:

• The U.S. Department of Labor says 34.7 million Americans work in the trades (construction, maintenance, repair, etc.), and we still need millions more just to replace retirees.

• Meanwhile, cosmetology jobs are growing at a modest 5% through 2034.

• Compare that to skilled trades like masonry, construction, solar installation, and industrial maintenance, where demand is outpacing supply — and paychecks follow suit.

💰 The Money Talks (and It’s Wearing a Hard Hat)

Let’s break it down:

And unlike salon chairs, foundations don’t reschedule.

🏗️ The Federal Push

The Department of Labor isn’t blind to this. In 2025, they announced fresh $12.5M apprenticeship expansions in several states to train more tradespeople.

In plain English?
If your school teaches how to build, fix, or install something, the government wants to pay your students’ tuition.

If your school teaches lashes, facials, or deep tissue, you might be on your own.

🤷‍♂️ Why So Many Schools Go “Beauty Over Blue”

Let’s be fair, starting a cosmetology or massage program is easy:

• No steel-toe boots or OSHA inspections.

• Lower startup cost.

• Shorter programs = faster cash flow.

But here’s the problem… It’s not where the real demand is.

We’ve got more barbers than bricklayers.
More massage tables than masonry trowels.
And more graduates are chasing beauty licenses than building permits.

Meanwhile, cities across America have months-long backlogs for construction and solar work.

🧰 What We Actually Need

We need more schools teaching:

• Masonry — every building starts with a strong foundation

• Construction — from framing to finish, America needs builders

• Solar Energy — clean power won’t install itself

• Industrial Maintenance — because every factory needs a fixer

These jobs are essential, high-paying, and can’t be offshored.
They’re the jobs that keep our economy running and our lights on.

🔑 The Playbook (If You’re Thinking of Opening One)

If you run — or want to run — a school, here’s your cheat sheet:

1. Pick a high-demand trade (check your state’s WIOA list).

2. Partner with employers who need workers yesterday.

3. Use WIOA grants to cover tuition.

4. Add apprenticeships so students earn while they learn.

5. Show outcomes — 90-day job placement, starting pay, and upward mobility.

That’s how you build blue trade schools that print opportunity.

🚀 Final Thought

America doesn’t need another school teaching $20/hr jobs with $20K tuition.

We need schools to teach $30/hr jobs with zero out-of-pocket costs through workforce grants.

Because when your foundation cracks, your factory line shuts down, or your solar panels fail, you’re not looking for a stylist.

You’re looking for a skilled tradesperson.

And right now, there just aren’t enough.