The United States needs skilled workers in the trades more than ever. Yet each passing year finds the United States short of welders, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and others engaged in building and manufacturing.
Despite good wages, job openings across the country, and steady work, the number of young people entering the trades isn’t even close to matching the number of available positions. In manufacturing, for instance, more than 600,000 jobs remain open every month.
A number of factors account for this disparity. An aging workforce is taking retirement faster than they can be replaced.
A cultural bias against vocational schools remains in play, with one survey of those aged 18 to 20 finding that 79 percent said their parents wanted them to attend college, while only 5 percent were encouraged to pursue the trades.
Meanwhile, the boom in construction and manufacturing, along with the increasing need for repairs to our country’s infrastructure, has driven demand for skilled workers through the roof.
Longtime trades advocate Mike Rowe has worked for years promoting the value of a skilled workforce. Best known for his Discovery Channel series “Dirty Jobs,” he also created the mikeroweWorks Foundation in 2008 to promote skilled trades and the nobility of work.
A few years later, Rowe and his foundation launched the Work Ethic Scholarship Program, dispersing competitive scholarships to vocational school students.
The 2025 deadline for applying for a mikeroweWORKS Foundation Work Ethic Scholarship is April 17, 2025.
Overalls and Opportunity
This year, Rowe and his foundation are looking to give away at least $2.5 million in scholarships for students attending trade schools. The foundation’s website states, “We’re looking for hardworking men and women who will keep the lights on, water running, and air flowing—people who will show up early, stay late, and bust their asses to get the job done.”
One key part of a student’s scholarship application process is to read and sign the S.W.E.A.T. Pledge. The 12 tenets of this pledge contain the heart of Rowe’s work ethic. Here are blunt affirmations, such as: “I believe that I am a product of my choices—not my circumstances. I will never blame anyone for my shortcomings or the challenges I face. And I will never accept the credit for something I didn’t do.”
Here, too, gratitude ranks No. 1 on this list: “I believe that I have won the greatest lottery of all time. I am alive. I walk the earth. I live in America. Above all things, I am grateful.”
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