By Gavin Boyle
As the future job security for white collar workers becomes more and more uncertain, Magnolia Network is shining a light on trade workers through a three part series, BUILDING BACK AMERICA’S TRADES.
“Skilled trades professionals power our homes, infrastructure and communities – yet their contributions often go underrecognized,” a description of the series reads. “With the construction industry in need of 349,000 new skilled workers in 2026 alone, these careers offer an accessible path to stable, high-opportunity work, with the power, potential and promise to strengthen communities.”
Related: Could AI Be the ‘Renaissance’ Skilled Trades Need? Mike Rowe Says…
BUILDING BACK AMERICA’S TRADES looks to highlight this work and encourage people to consider about these jobs when thinking about the future by not only showing the types of projects blue collar workers engage with but also revealing how these skills empower them.
“[These skills give me] the empowerment to say, ‘I did this. I can do this. What else can I do?’ Is really what happens is that, ‘What else can I do?’” one trade worker explained in a teaser for the show.
While entire generations have been sold on the value of college, receiving a degree truly is not for everyone, and college’s ability to automatically deliver a high paying job has greatly deteriorated and will continue to do so as AI advances. Trade work, however, cannot be replaced by AI and requires much less debt to get the necessary training.
Mike Rowe has long advocated for young Americans to consider these roles, and his efforts have not gone without fruit as hundreds of thousands of Americans now choose trade school over a four year degree after graduating high school.
“Validating is a good word, but not as good as surreal, right? So, I got up, I make a cup of coffee and as I sit down at my computer and this pops up in my feed. Jensen Huang and Larry Fink, two of the most powerful business people on planet earth saying precisely what me and your dad have been saying talking about for years,” Rowe said after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang touted the importance of trade workers for the future.
“You’re right, we’ve been beating a drum,” he continued. “We have been suggesting that there are millions of wonderful opportunities that just aren’t getting the attention they deserve. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that AI would be the inciting incident or the proximate cause that would get the c-suite at that level to start paying this kind of attention.”
As trade roles continue to play an incredibly important role in our society, it is encouraging to see people like Rowe and the Magnolia Network to use their platforms to promote this type of work. The first episode of BUILDING BACK AMERICA’S TRADES is now available. The second and third episodes will be released on April 18 and April 25, respectively.
Read Next: Mike Rowe Breaks Down the AI-Proof Jobs
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