"A cultural shift was needed on the job sites-not only in the minds of the workers, but also in the physical layout of a site. It may sound trivial, but placing two porta-potties at a build site instead of just one that everyone uses-measures like that are important for developing an inclusive culture."
"This is absolutely a rare window for young workers because the demand is real, funded, and seemingly long-term," Fraser Patterson, CEO of Skillit, stated. "These are not speculative jobs. They are tied to multi-decade investment cycles, and they offer a path to strong earnings, skill development, and stability without requiring a traditional four-year degree."
Caleb Moss's workday starts early on Tuesdays and Thursdays, before the sun comes up. At 4:30 a.m., he reports to his post in tool and die at Virco Manufacturing. Under the guidance of a mentor, he turns steel into high-precision tools and molds used throughout the plant. At 9:00 a.m., Moss leaves the plant and heads to Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, Ark., for a full day of instruction, beginning with math class and moving on to hands-on training on machines similar to those Moss uses on the job.
Engineering jobs often require rigorous coursework if not a higher degree, and the scarcity of qualified engineers means employers are willing to pay high wages. Notably, the engineering field with the lowest mid-career median wage is still in the six-figure range.
I can honestly say that if I was 18 now, there is no way I would go to university only to leave with huge debts and poor job prospects. Instead, I would become an electrician or similar trade.
The language of blue-collar fathers isn't spoken-it's lived. It's written in grease-stained paychecks, in Saturday mornings spent under the sink, in showing up to work sick because the mortgage doesn't care if you have the flu. After forty years in the trades and raising my own kids, I finally decoded what my father and countless men like him were really communicating through their actions.
The Associated Builders and Contractors trade group estimated in a report last month the industry will need to bring in 456,000 new workers in 2027, up 30.7% from the 349,000 needed this year. "Failing to do so will worsen labor shortages, especially in certain occupations and regions, placing further upward pressure on labor costs," ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu warned in a statement.
Growing up in Concord, North Carolina, just outside Charlotte, Jacob Palmer was a classic academic achiever. "I was a good student," he said in an interview with Fortune. "In high school, I participated in all types of extracurriculars, student leadership, I did a lot of public speaking. I had all sorts of friends." But he said something changed during the pandemic. "School looked drastically different doing online classes and Zoom calls. It felt very intangible." He said he figured out pretty quickly that online college "didn't work for me. I hated it."
While many assume formal learning is limited to a bachelor's or master's degree, both the CEO of VC firm General Catalyst, Hemant Taneja, and McKinsey's top executive, Bob Sternfels, say that's not the case anymore. Employees must skill and re-skill constantly to stay afloat, said Taneja, whose VC firm has invested in companies such as Anduril and Anthropic. Taneja discussed this during a live taping of the All-In podcast, hosted by entrepreneur and investor Jason Calacanis Tuesday at CES 2026,
Young people are "experiencing higher education differently, and that is shaping much of what parents are saying," said Lammers. "[Parents] are reacting to the questions their children are asking and trying to find the best way to help them navigate the next steps."
Job insecurity is real: More than half of American workers (54%) say insecurity about their job is causing significant stress at work, while more than a third (39%) say they worry they about losing their job due to changes in government policies, according to the American Psychological Association's 2025 Work in America survey. Layoffs are reportedly at an all-time high since 2009, along with the lowest hiring on record in the U.S.
