{"id":401667,"date":"2026-07-17T02:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T02:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/401667\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T02:25:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T02:25:16","slug":"sfs-aging-infrastructure-creates-130k-trade-jobs-amid-ai-shift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/401667\/","title":{"rendered":"SF\u2019s aging infrastructure creates $130K trade jobs amid AI shift"},"content":{"rendered":"

As AI threatens to replace more white-collar jobs, a growing number of graduates are discovering that getting their hands dirty<\/a> may be the smartest career move \u2014 with some skilled trades paying well into six figures.<\/p>\n

In cities like San Francisco, where much of the infrastructure dates back more than a century, aging elevators and escalators are creating a booming demand for workers who can keep them running.<\/p>\n

Elevator and escalator installers and repairers are now among the highest-paid blue-collar workers in the Bay Area<\/a>, earning between $109,820 and $130,000 a year, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With aging infrastructure and a shrinking pool of skilled tradespeople, the profession offers the kind of job security that AI simply can\u2019t replace<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Graduates are learning old-school jobs people do with their hands, like construction and extraction operations, are the key to job security. Getty Images<\/p>\n

One chart showed jobs for certified elevator operators earn even more than things like first-line supervisors of construction trades<\/a> and extraction workers, and more than terrazzo workers and finishers.<\/p>\n

Greg Hardeman, with local IUEC, a union for elevator constructors, said \u201celevators have been around forever,\u201d in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pushing our 125th anniversary next year, but we\u2019ve been putting elevators in probably longer than 130 years,\u201d Hardeman told Mission Local<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In places like San Francisco, the demand is skyrocketing for people who have the knowledge to repair lifts and elevators which over time have begun to fall apart. Getty Images\/iStockphoto<\/p>\n

He said there\u2019s a definite need for people who have the skills to replace things like welding brackets, pull wires, and align tracks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re almost like the SEAL Team 6 of the trades because we do everything, everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hardeman said there\u2019s been a huge increase in applications recently for enrollment into the union\u2019s apprenticeship program.<\/p>\n

Blue collar jobs like elevator and escalator installers and repairers can net an annual salary of anywhere from $109,820 to $130,000 locally. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took 750 applications and filled them up pretty quickly \u2014 in under a minute,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mike Moore, a longtime elevator technician with the union and instructor of the trade, said remote workers need to realize the value of having a skilled trade.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause if you can stay at home and work, then somebody in India can do your work for cheaper. And that\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d Moore said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your elevator breaks down, they\u2019re not going to outsource a broken elevator to India. They\u2019re going to require somebody to come in and look at the elevator in person.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mike Moore, a longtime elevator technician with the union and instructor of the trade, said remote workers need to realize the value in being irreplaceable and having a skilled trade. Vladimir Tretyakov\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

To qualify for the program, a person needs only to have their high school diploma. It takes about four to five years to complete the process and become certified.<\/p>\n

Currently, there are 1,400 elevator technicians in all of Northern California, with only two trade schools in the entire state for these kind of jobs.<\/p>\n

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