My point was that because academia focuses on the professional services in a world where academia is considered the preferred pathway, we have a reduction in attention to manufacturing and trades. This problem has kept a lot of potential talent out of the middle-tier trades jobs, as well as misplacing many more into the service sector than needed.

There are tons of jobs in trades and manufacturing, but not that many qualified people move into them because the academic system shuns them and virtually all potential talent enters academia. This creates a scenario where mechanics, welders, and carpenters are those who didn't go to college, but because everybody tries to go to college, those trades are underrepresented. What we need is a higher-learning system that includes trades. Countries like Germany have this; US does not