You Don't Want to Be a Plumber. You Just Need a Vacation.
It’s the most common post on r/sysadmin right now. "I’m done with the corporate rat race. I’m going to quit, buy a van, and become an electrician. I want to work with my hands."
I get it. Your back hurts from sitting. Your eyes hurt from staring at Jira. You feel like your work is meaningless "digital paper pushing." The idea of building a physical deck or wiring a house feels "real."
But you are hallucinating. You are romanticizing a life you have never lived.
I spent 10 years in staffing, placing people in both IT and the Trades. I have seen the 45-year-old electricians who can’t lift their arms above their shoulders. I have seen the HVAC guys crawling through 120-degree attics breathing in fiberglass.
Here is the cold shower you need before you throw away your $140k/year tech career.
1. The "Body Tax" (It’s Not Free Gym)
Tech workers think manual labor is like "CrossFit with a paycheck." It’s not. It is repetitive stress injury on steroids.
- Coding: You get Carpal Tunnel.
- Trades: You get a blown L4 disc, hearing loss, and "White Finger" (vibration damage).
In tech, you sell your mind. You can do that until you are 70. In the trades, you sell your body. You have a shelf life. By 50, your knees are shot. If you get injured, your income goes to $0 overnight. There is no "Remote Work" option for a plumber with a broken leg.
2. The Pay Cut (The Math Doesn't Work)
Social media influencers love to say: "Plumbers make $200k!" Exception, not the rule.
To make $200k in the trades, you have to:
- Own the business (which means you are doing sales/admin, not "working with hands").
- Work 80 hours a week (Emergency calls at 3 AM).
- Live in a hyper-expensive city.
The Reality: The average Apprentice Electrician makes $22/hour. You will spend 4 years as an apprentice carrying heavy boxes for a guy who yells at you, just to graduate to $35/hour. You are trading a $70/hour entry-level React job for a $22/hour manual labor job. That is financial suicide.
3. The Culture Shock
You hate your Tech Lead because he left a passive-aggressive comment on your Pull Request? Wait until you meet a Job Site Foreman.
Construction culture is not "Inclusive." It is not "Psychologically Safe." There are no HR complaints. If you mess up, you get screamed at. If you are used to the tech bubble—free snacks, mental health days, and polite Slack messages—you will last exactly 4 days on a job site.
The Real Numbers: Tech vs. Trades
I pulled the actual salary data for 2025 (not the Instagram numbers).
| Metric | Junior Developer | Apprentice Electrician |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 Pay | $75,000 - $90,000 | $38,000 - $45,000 |
| Year 5 Pay | $140,000+ | $75,000 |
| Work Environment | AC, Ergonomic Chair | Crawlspace, Rain, Port-a-Potty |
| PTO | "Unlimited" (fake, but exists) | 0 Days (No work = No pay) |
| Job Security | Volatile (Layoffs) | High (Toilets always break) |
The Verdict: The trades offer job security, but the price is your health and 50% of your lifetime earnings.
Frequently Asked Questions (That Dreamers Ignore)
Can I do trades as a side hustle?
Maybe. Woodworking or "Handyman" work on the weekends is a great way to scratch that itch without quitting your day job. But you cannot "dabble" in licensed trades like HVAC or Electrical. Those require thousands of hours of apprenticeship. Keep your day job; build a bookshelf on Saturday.
What if I'm worried about AI taking my coding job?
Valid fear. AI will reduce the number of coders. But AI will also manage the trades. We already see "Prefab Construction" where robots build walls in a factory and humans just assemble them. No job is safe. The answer is to become a "High-Level Problem Solver," not a "Pipe Fitter" or a "Code Monkey." See our Junior Dev Guide for how to pivot.
Is there any trade worth it?
Specialized ones. Elevator Repair and Medical Equipment Technician. These are "White Collar Trades." They require high intellect, pay $100k+, and destroy your body less than roofing. If you must leave tech, look there.
Leon Staffing places people in roles that pay the bills without breaking their backs. If you want to stay in tech but hate your boss, find a better remote role here.