He dropped out of high school to work construction for $8/hour — now 22, he's making $200,000 a year

Rising layoffs, economic uncertainty, the threat of AI. Young Americans have rarely been more pessimistic about the job market — and it’s pushing some to reconsider their career paths. A growing number of young people are eyeing the skilled trades, hoping it’ll bring stability and six-figure salaries.

For Matt Panella, the trades brought exactly that. At just 15 years old, Panella faced a life-changing decision when his now-wife became pregnant with their first child. Panella’s school tried to encourage him to follow a traditional path and still apply for college. He took a different route instead.

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“Ultimately what I ended up doing was dropping out of high school—which I don’t condone,” Panella told Fortune . “I went to work with my dad on site, who worked for another contractor at the time, at the age of 15.”

Panella began working for just $8 an hour as a laborer on his dad’s sites. By watching his older coworkers, he eventually learned how to install hardware and roof systems. He also built his skills through online forums.

After three years, he was making $18 an hour; that rate climbed to $30 an hour by the time he was 21. In 2018, he launched his YouTube channel, posting anything from homebuilding tutorials to tool-belt reviews. Just one year later, at the age of 22, Panella was bringing in around $200,000 annually through his construction work and his social media.