🐴 Why the trades pay 6 figures

Just 1.5% of Americans feed 300 million people. See how the skilled trades shortage creates opportunity. PLUS: $2.5 million in scholarships for people willing to work.

March 31, 2025

3 Quick Bites:

🍎 How the "invisible workforce" crisis creates six-figure opportunities
🍎 Why 400,000 welding jobs will go unfilled by 2026 |opene
🍎 Apply for Mike Rowe's $2.5M Work Ethic Scholarship Program by April 17

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💡 THOUGHT

THE INVISIBLE WORKFORCE

"Just 1.5% of Americans feed 300 million people three times daily... When the most critical jobs that allow civilized life to happen are struggling to recruit, we don't have a skills gap—we have a priorities crisis."

— Mike Rowe

📊 TREND

BLUE COLLAR ARBITRAGE

While universities push degrees of questionable ROI, the jobs that make modern civilization possible are facing catastrophic worker shortages.

"For every five tradespeople who retire this year," Rowe notes, "two will replace them."

The average skilled tradesperson is now over 55. The American Welding Society projects a shortage of 400,000 welders by 2026. One defense contractor alone is looking for 100,000 skilled workers in the next decade.

But what some call a massive market inefficiency, we call an opportunity. It’s just basic supply and demand: reduce the supply of workers, and the price (wage) rises.

While millions of college graduates compete for oversaturated white-collar jobs, skilled trades offer immediate employment, zero debt, and often six-figure incomes within a few years.

The arbitrage won't last forever. Smart teens are already moving into Career and Technical Education. The question is whether we'll correct course before our infrastructure—literally—falls apart.

🔨 TOOL

THE WORK ETHIC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Mike Rowe is putting his money where his mouth is and giving away $2.5 million in scholarships to people willing to work. The requirements for the Work Ethic Scholarship Program are straightforward:

  • Enroll in a program that teaches useful skills

  • Sign the S.W.E.A.T. Pledge, acknowledging that hard work matters

  • Prove you're not allergic to effort

  • Submit by April 17, 2025

"We're looking for people who will show up early, stay late, and bust their assets to get the job done," the website states.

If you're ready to learn skills that actually matter, check out mikeroweworks.org/scholarship.

That’s all for today! See you tomorrow.

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)

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