#trades

My husband teaches his trade in a major metro area and let me tell you what “everyone is going into the trades” looks like:

1/10 students dropping out in a week because they didn’t realize they’d need to be able to do/learn algebra

The majority of students can’t show up on time, stay the entire class, or dress appropriately

Half of them cheat

1/10 students actually engage with the curriculum

there are three ways to make enough money to make it "worth" the price of having a broken down, agony filled body by age 35:

1. Get into one of the unions (not gauranteed)

2. Become a capitalist (start your own small trade business)

3. Work in extremely high danger sectors of your trade

why do you think conservative pundits push trades so hard? it's so people flood the market looking for these "high wages" only to find everyone else already had that idea. and the only people who win are the goddamned land owners who now, thanks to all of the tradies, have a far lower cost associated with essential labor!

look. trades are important and useful. the world needs people who do things like plumbing, and hvac, and concrete, and electrical and etc etc etc.

but in my experience, trade jobs where youre one worker as a member of a company, pay like. AT MOST $5/hr more than the standard payrate in a given area. for jobs with longer, harder hours, with some of the highest injury and mortality rates of any job out there.

CityQ HVAC/trades photo — engineer loading tools or parked at a London townhouse

Every plumber and HVAC engineer in the UK knows the van problem. Where does it park at the job — for two hours, while you're inside fixing a boiler?

In central London in 2026, that question costs £80–£120 a day before a single spanner is turned. ULEZ at £12.50, Congestion Charge at £18, parking across four jobs at £20–£40, and the fine that lands while you're still up a ladder and can't do anything about it. For a sole trader charging £325–£375 a day, the van is consuming 20–35% of daily revenue before any work is done.

West Country Heating and Plumbing, a Gloucestershire firm employing 40 engineers, invested £24,000 in two electric cargo bikes for Bristol call-outs. Their turnover went from £1.4M to £1.8M in the year they made the switch. Their environmentally conscious customers responded immediately and positively.

CityQ is legally a bicycle. It parks free at the job for the full duration — no meter, no fine, no anxiety. No ULEZ, no Congestion Charge. No driving licence required. And most domestic call-outs use under 50kg of tools — well within the CityQ's 100kg payload range.

The payload question is answered. The parking problem is solved. The city charges disappear.