From tech to the trades: One laid off worker's big career pivot 27%

By Joshua McNichols0%

5/27/2026, 7:45:02 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 15 faulty reasoning types, including Attempt to Sell a Product or Service, Framing Effect, and Representativeness Heuristic, with Halo Effect as the most egregious example at 14.1% saturation with 28 hits. Analysis detected 252 faulty-reasoning hits from 199 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 38.4% and a BS Rank of 27% (12,284 of 16,813 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 73.10% of the article peer group.

It’s a weird time to work in tech. 
Last year's tech layoffs in Washington state were the second highest in the country. 
That has some tech workers turning to fields they see as AI-proof. 
We sat down with Brett Burden, a laid off tech worker who did what a lot of people are advising: went into the trades. 
On today's episode, what’s it like to go from white collar to blue? 
And what can it tell us about where the workforce is headed? 
Coming up: Are you using AI agents? 
Do you have a task that you want an AI agent to complete for you? 
We'd love to hear from you. 
Give us a call at (206) 221-7158 and leave a voicemail. 
You can also email us at booming@kuow.org. 
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! 
If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes. 
Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 
Our editor is Carol Smith. 
Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. 
Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg. 
Confirmation Bias
6%
Anchoring Bias
0%
Availability Heuristic
7%
Representativeness Heuristic
12.1%
Hindsight Bias
0%
Overconfidence Bias
6%
Framing Effect
12.6%
Loss Aversion
0%
Status Quo Bias
0%
Sunk Cost Effect
0%
Optimism Bias
0%
Pessimism Bias
0%
Negativity Bias
4%
Self-Serving Bias
0%
Fundamental Attribution Error
0%
Actor-Observer Bias
0%
In-Group Bias
0%
Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
0%
Halo Effect
14.1%
Horn Effect
0%
Dunning-Kruger Effect
0%
Recency Bias
0%
Primacy Effect
0%
Blind-Spot Bias
0%
Ad Hominem
0%
Straw Man
0%
Appeal to Authority
7.5%
False Dilemma
0%
Slippery Slope
0%
Circular Reasoning
0%
Hasty Generalization
7%
Red Herring
0%
Bandwagon
12.1%
Appeal to Emotion
0%
Begging the Question
0%
Post Hoc (False Cause)
0%
Tu Quoque
0%
Burden of Proof
0%
Appeal to Nature
0%
Composition/Division
6%
Anecdotal
6%
No True Scotsman
0%
Ambiguity (Equivocation)
0%
Gambler’s Fallacy
0%
Middle Ground
0%
Personal Incredulity
0%
Special Pleading
0%
Genetic Fallacy
0%
Unattributed Quote
0%
Quote-first Misdirection
0%
Biased Writer Voice
6%
Indoctrination
6.5%
Politically Left Leaning Bias
0%
Politically Right Leaning Bias
0%
Attempt to Sell a Product or Service
13.6%

199 words analyzed.

Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.