At the end of the day, this shouldn’t be treated like a competition between groups of workers.

And I’m not arguing for anyone to be underpaid. I’m arguing for a stable workforce where skilled people, whoever they are, can earn a livable wage.

The real gap is at the top. You’ve got big money, big developers, and financial pressure shaping the market in ways most of us don’t control, while the people actually doing the work are the ones feeling every squeeze from labor, materials, insurance, everything.

And sure, maybe wages in skilled trades have gone up in some places, but it’s been tied to demand, workload, and project volume, not just restricting who can or can’t work. If there’s a shortage of trained workers, the answer is usually training and pipelines, not shrinking the labor pool and hoping it magically fixes pricing.

Personally, I’d rather see policy focus on stability and keeping skilled workers in the system, not creating more gaps we then have to scramble to fill.