Mar 26, 2009 8:06 pm US/Eastern
Trade Schools Boom As Jobless Seek New Careers
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
They're a booming business!
Trade schools nationwide are reporting a 10 percent increase in enrollment this year.
The key to their growth has been increases in jobless rates. The unemployed are out in droves looking for training before attempting to change careers.
After seven years in the hotel business, Julie Stockton is making up a brand new career.
"In this economic situation, we started to feel the crunch and unfortunately, I got laid off," Stockton said.
Daniel Wieczorek is also reinventing himself, after recently being laid off from a financial recruiting job.
"My mother has a hair salon, and she asked me if I'd be interested in taking it over," Wieczorek says.
As people are getting cut from their jobs, they are deciding to retool.
The Institute of Culinary Education has seen a 15 percent increase in the last year alone.
People are coming in for their professional programs, like Sadie – who decided to drop out of her junior year of college in order to pursue a career as a chef.
At Empire Beauty School in Midtown Manhattan, where enrollment is increasing, Stockton is using some of her savings to pay her tuition. In just a couple weeks, she'll graduate with a certificate in makeup artistry – a life long dream.
"I'd love to maybe, at this time next year, be at fashion week," Stockton said. "The possibilities are really endless."
Wieczorek is also attending Empire, but to become a hair stylist. He qualified for some financial aid, and says he now looks at his layoff as a blessing in disguise.
"It worked out better for me than I could imagine," Wieczorek says. "I'm really not as stressed, my day is done at 5 p.m."
"As bad as the economy is, the future still looks pretty bright for electricians, plumbers, carpenters," Leonard Sheiner, of the Industrial Management & Training Institute, says.
With 250,000 construction jobs expected to become available over the next five years, Leonard Sheiner says the increased enrollment at his technical school is perfect timing. Graduates can expect to earn up to $45 an hour.
As part of the House stimulus package, the federal government would send the states an additional $1 billion to provide training and re-employment services to dislocated workers.
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