It may not apply here but I've been in the process of building a house (I'm not doing the actual work) for a year and all I keep hearing from the builder and subs is that since the economy took a shit, there's a huge lack of skilled labor for carpentry, electrical, plumbing, etc as people bowed out of the industry and went elsewhere. Seems like a good opportunity for some folks to find some solid work and make some decent $. A friend of mine who worked for Drees homes for many years was laid off in '08 because of the economy. He was really good at what he did and started doing side work under the table. He made $80k in his first year (tax free) and was turning away people because he had so much work just through work of mouth. He's since found work doing county maintenance in NKY but that one year he raked.