mikeroweWORKS Foundation CEO Mike Rowe explains how AI will change jobs after hearing from Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Rowe says many skilled data center workers earn six figures or more.
America’s skilled labor shortage has major employers sounding the alarm as companies face growing demand for workers needed to build, maintain and power the nation’s infrastructure.
Mike Rowe, CEO of the MikeroweWORKS Foundation, joined FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.” to discuss the growing skilled labor gap, the impact of artificial intelligence, and the growing desire to direct more Americans into business careers.
Mike Rowe warns that America’s skilled workforce faces a growing labor shortage, calling it the “problem of the decade.” (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
A new national report from the Alliance for American Skilled Trades finds that the United States is expected to face about 1.7 million job openings in the skilled trades each year through 2035, while training programs produce only about 55 workers for every 100 people needed.
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Rowe cautioned that the shortage is not the same in every profession or state, but said the broader problem appears across all trades.
The Trump administration’s new higher education rule ties eligibility for federal student loans to graduates’ earnings, putting pressure on college programs whose students don’t meet federal income requirements.
“So what you’re seeing across dozens and dozens of trades are more or less universal shortages. But individually, from trade to trade, from state to state, there are variations,” Rowe said.
For Rowe, the urgency is increasingly evident in conversations with business leaders.
Google is partnering with veterans groups to help 25,000 people access careers in skilled trades amid a labor shortage.
“Every week I get a call, either from the CEO of a major company or a major industry. And they’re freaking out. This labor issue is the problem of the decade, and it’s not going to go away until we approach it from a different angle,” he said.
Home Builders Institute President and CEO Ed Brady discusses how a severe shortage of construction workers is fueling the U.S. housing crisis and explains how building AI data centers is drawing skilled labor away from residential home construction.
At the same time, Rowe said attitudes toward careers appear to be changing, driven by the rising cost of four-year degrees and concerns about how AI could reshape the job market.
“Just because of my foundation, demand has increased 10 times compared to the same time a year ago,” Rowe said. “So something has definitely changed in the ether, and I suspect AI has a lot to do with it.”
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