Mike Rowe says the US Pentagon needs 400,000 welders and electricians — here’s how savvy Americans are playing the boom Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below.
America is running short on skilled workers
That’s a message skilled-trades advocate Mike Rowe has embraced for years. And speaking with Fox News host Laura Ingraham (1), Rowe said the labor shortage extends far beyond Silicon Valley — a location that’s filled with lots of engineering jobs, yes, but also a growing need for skilled workers. Must Read – Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one – JPMorgan still sees gold hitting $5,000/oz by Q4 — and savvy investors are protecting their wealth with a tax-advantaged Gold IRA.
Learn more with a free guide from Priority Gold – The tax breaks in Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ expire after 2028 — and experts say most people won’t act in time. What to do before the window closes Rowe says that, for example, U.S. military shipbuilding and commercial projects (2) are competing for the exact same pool of skilled labor as hotspots driving the latest innovations in artificial intelligence. “The Pentagon needs 400,000 welders and electricians just for submarine contracts over the next seven or eight years,” Rowe said. “It’s mind-boggling — and they’re all competing for your kid.” But he added, “Today, of course, it’s Google and Meta and anybody who’s trying to build one of those things — a data center,” he said, adding, “That’s completely transformed the demands on the workforce.” Rowe’s comments echo sentiments of others in the field worried about the compounding shortages. The Associated Builders and Contractors (3) estimates that the U.S. construction industry alone faces a shortage of roughly 350,000 workers this year, while the National Center for Construction Education and Research expects a…