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Mike Rowe warns US workforce facing ‘problem of the decade’
Fox Business • • business
Key Points:
- The U.S. faces a significant skilled trades shortage, with an estimated 1.7 million job openings annually through 2035, while training programs produce only 55 workers per 100 needed, according to the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades.
- Mike Rowe, CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, highlighted that while shortages vary by trade and state, the problem is widespread across many skilled trades sectors.
- Corporate leaders are increasingly alarmed by the workforce gap, with Rowe noting frequent calls from CEOs expressing concern over this being "the problem of the decade."
- Attitudes toward skilled trades are shifting positively, driven by rising costs of four-year degrees and uncertainty about AI's impact on the job market, leading to a tenfold increase in demand for trade career information through Rowe's foundation.
- Efforts to address the shortage include partnerships like Google's collaboration with veterans groups to help 25,000 individuals enter skilled trades careers amid the worker deficit.
