Vocational training has declined because secondary schools dramatically changed their curriculum to train kids to go to college and only benefit them with necessary skills for a postsecondary school. There is also a social stigma that looks upon blue collar jobs as low paying, causing a further decline in skilled workers social stigma of a blue collar job. The recession caused thousands of skilled tradesmen to leave the field in search of other job opportunities contributing to a shortage of skilled workers.
 

Kids are pressured to go to college and get degree even if they don't know what to major in. Kids are pushed toward jobs that they do not enjoy and see as meaningless.This is not only destructive toward our kids brains but also our society and future (Phillips, 2012). We are pushing for kids to attend college when we have a major issue with the decline of trade jobs. 

If a student is successful in academics than a trade is seen as a waste of talent. Those who don't excel in academics are put down from parents, and teachers because they think they have no other path to take (Phillips, 2012). The self esteem of most students will decline as they are told they are useless because they are not academically acceptable.
 

There were many people who lost their jobs and had nothing to turn to and because there were so many people without a job, all trades downsized or disappeared (Heilman, 2014). There were about 143 thousand jobs that need to be filled with laborers and 69 percent of companies have experienced setbacks because of the lack of workers. The industry lost 2.3 million jobs from 2006 to 2011 

A solution to the worker shortage is to build partnerships with outside companies. The biggest reason for schools to shut down the shop class is due to funds and not being able to pay for the equipment and teachers. The funds can come from outside companies that are always looking to hire and can make a connections to the students.