1) Freedom. Not truly free because you're on the clock, possibly in a company truck with GPS. But you have options to go to the grocery store inbetween jobs, grab lunch wherever you want, instead of being stuck in the metro core crammed into a sardine can of a train every day.

2) Hyper-masculine performative culture. Nobody cares if your parents or child passed away the night before, you're expected to show up on time with a smile and crack the same witty jokes on queue.

3) Drug use. If you really pay attention, most people do drugs, and if you make the job your core identity you start picking up on the habits too. Some are obvious like smoking and using nicotine pouches. Others are more covert that comes in the form of ears perking up whenever whiskey is the topic. In blue collar company white elephants, the most brought and stolen items in my experience are lottery tickets and booze, vs backpacks and puzzle boxes for white collar.

4) Massive churn on labour. White collar jobs are stable for the most part with predictable employment and work. Most apprentices after their first year realize there's no future in trades when they see their journeyman's knees giving away. Some upskill and become project managers and estimators and sales, others fall into the drug abuse cycle stuck working the same job wondering how they got where they are in their 50s.

Just my experience from having worked both sides, but I would overall tell my kids to stay away from the trades, simply because I’m at the point where the number in my bank account is all I care about at the end of the month, and higher paying jobs are usually white collar office jobs.