Mike Rowe Warns US Faces Massive Blue-Collar Worker Shortage Amid AI Rise

Mike Rowe, CEO of the MikeRoweWorks Foundation and former host of Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs, warned at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit that artificial intelligence threatens coding jobs but not skilled trade occupations such as welding, plumbing, and electrical work, which face severe labor shortages. He highlighted the urgent national need for more tradespeople, citing BlackRock CEO Larry Fink's statement that the U.S. requires 500,000 additional electricians in the coming years. Rowe emphasized the critical shortage of trades workers in industries vital to national security, including the maritime industrial base responsible for building nuclear-powered submarines for the Navy, where 140,000 tradespeople are needed. The automotive, energy, and manufacturing sectors also face significant worker deficits, with hundreds of thousands of jobs currently unfilled. Rowe criticized the longstanding societal push for coding education, noting that AI is replacing coders, while the demand for blue-collar workers is expanding, driven by infrastructure demands, energy transition, and military needs. Experts warn that failure to fill these roles will drive up labor costs and constrain industry growth, underscoring the importance of attracting young workers to trade careers.