Hands-on careers take center stage at New Mexico SkillsUSA

Isaak Munoz and Ricardo Morales first pursued other fields before turning to trades —Munoz studied media and Morales graduated in marketing.

The two have since begun taking classes in HVAC at Doña Ana Community College.

“It wasn’t panning out for me,” Morales said of his marketing degree. “I’ve always found interest in refrigeration systems and stuff like that …I just liked the precision.”

After graduation, they both hope to get jobs in their field.

“I always say, if I’m hands-on with something, I’m enjoying it,” Munoz said. “When I first took the class, my wife was like, ‘You look so happy.’”

On Friday, the two entered the sheet metal competition at the New Mexico SkillsUSA conference at Central New Mexico Community College.

The conference will host more than 900 students on Friday and Saturday who will compete in 70 different career and technical events — welding, carpentry, aviation mechanics, screen printing and robotics, to name a few.

SkillsUSA is a nationwide workforce development program for students intended to prepare them for jobs in skilled trades. Some students are looking for a career change, like Munoz and Morales. Others are looking for another path that might not require a traditional degree.

“It’s an alternative to four-year education that leads to a good paying job,” said Jason Hayes, state officer coordinator for New Mexico SkillsUSA.

In New Mexico and across the country, older tradespeople are retiring quicker than they can be replaced, Hayes said, creating a need for skilled workers that can’t be filled fast enough.

“There’s a huge need for people to fill those positions,” Hayes said.

Younger students may be attracted to trades because of the fast-paced work, said Janel Sanchez, SkillsUSA’s state director for New Mexico.

“They’re looking for things that are a little bit faster, things that are a little bit more hands-on,” Sanchez said. “This generation is much more hands-on.”

It also doesn’t hurt that many of these jobs are what some call AI-proof.

“A lot of these jobs are jobs that can be AI-augmented, but not AI-replaced,” Hayes said.

Skilled trade jobs are also attracting more female students than ever before. At CNM, the number of women majoring in trade programs has grown 14% in five years, according to the college’s spokesperson Brad Moore.

At CNM, the number of women majoring in welding has shot up 176% during that same time, Moore said. Women now make up 21% of the college’s trade students.

Hayes, who teaches diesel technology at San Juan College in Farmington, said when he first started teaching, it was rare to have a female student in his class.

“Now, it’s not unusual,” Hayes said. “We are seeing more attraction of female students into the non-traditional tracks, because they’re looking at it as a real path to personal success.”

For Karyme Contreras, a junior at Hobbs High School studying business management, the program is an opportunity to prepare herself for the future.

“It’s a very, very diverse community. You get to meet and talk to a lot of different people,” she said.

SkillsUSA was founded in 1965 and its New Mexico chapter started in 1966, Sanchez said. The gold medalists from the competition at CNM will go on to represent New Mexico at nationals in Atlanta in June.

Events are judged by professionals like Seve Quinn, who participated in the conference himself when he was a student and now oversees the welding competition. Now, Quinn works as a lead fabricator for Kairos Power.

“I had a really great welding instructor, but going from school to the industry, it’s a night-and-day sort of thing,” Quinn said. “So having this as a stepping stone … It's extremely helpful.”

Employers see the annual competition as a means to recruit and network, Quinn said. He’s hired two or three former competitors himself, he said.

“The impact that SkillsUSA had on me — it drives me to help the next generation of others,” he said. “It’s not just the experience, but the people you’re getting in contact with.”

Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.