POLITICSQUARTZ
America spent decades telling students to go to college. Now it needs trades workers
Federal policy over forty years encouraged students to pursue college education, leading to a current shortage of electricians needed for wiring data centers.
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Adjacent reporting
- Trade school enrollment is booming. It's mostly a demographic mirage
- Carpentry and plumbing college courses are struggling to keep up with demand as more white-collar workers ditch office jobs to learn a trade
- Debate around value of college degrees in focus
- Electricians are training for an AI data center boom that may be over by graduation
- Gen Z is ditching college for ‘more secure’ trade jobs—but boilermakers and welders actually rank among the worst entry-level jobs
- Non-college career pathways have a math problem