March 30, 2020 • Articles • Working in the Trades

These Blue Collar Industries Will Face The Biggest Talent Shortages Over The Next 10 Years

These times, they are a’changin’. The trend of the last 20-30 years has shifted. Who would have thought that it would be the college-educated populace that would struggle to find work in this day and age? But it’s true – for every job in education and health services, there are, on average, 2.26 unemployed people with the proper credentials to fill it. For a job in finance, 1.78 individuals are waiting in line. And for “professional service” positions, 1.9 potential employees vie for each one.

But the trend is not the same for those in the blue-collar sector of the workforce. For a job in construction, there are three-quarters of a person to fill it. Which means there is an overabundance of available positions in the industry. Moreover, the individuals who fill these jobs are more likely to “experience rapid wage growth, and be overall satisfied,” according to the Conference Board.

Because of our conventional “wisdom” about college and careers, this doesn’t seem like it makes sense, but it does. The automation industry has not caught up to doing meaningful blue-collar work. Years ago, it was expected that by 2020, a lot of “lower-ranking” jobs in society would have been filled by robots. There didn’t seem to be a need to go into trucking, for example, because soon we would have self-driving cars.

However, truckers’ earning potential has skyrocketed. Recently, Walmart increased the annual salaries of their drivers to $90,000. And the unfilled jobs in trucking are plentiful: 175,000 are expected in the next six years!

Other industries are suffering in this regard, as well. By 2030, jobs in manufacturing will face a 7.9 million-person deficit, which may result in a 607.1 billion dollar loss in revenue, which means employers will go above and beyond to entice potential future hires. In turn, future employees will see an increase in wages and benefits.

This is EXACTLY why I wrote Blue Collar Cash. These are valuable jobs that should be filled, but no one seems to be doing anything about it.

What do manufacturers and truck drivers have in common? They’re both blue-collar. So are many other jobs on the list of careers that will have the biggest talent shortages by 2030. But blue-collar positions are even more likely to experience rising wages in the next decade than others that will experience the same number of jobs created. Why? The baby boomers are retiring, about 10,000 of them a DAY, and they often filled blue-collar positions that have been scorned by the younger generations. That means positions are being created in these fields and employees are leaving them – increasing the need for new hands even more. Those lucky or smart enough to work in these fields are likely to be quite happy in the near future.

So which jobs are going to experience serious growth over the next decade?

Solar photovoltaic installers (63% growth)
Wind turbine service technicians (57% growth)
Registered Nurse (12% growth)
Construction laborers (10.5% growth)
Electricians (10.4% growth)
Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists (10% growth)
Carpenters (8.0% growth)
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (5.1% growth)

In order for this transition to move seamlessly, employers have to act now, and schools and parents need to follow suit.

It’s time for the unjustified stigma towards the blue-collar workforce to disappear. These industries may not have the pomp and circumstance of a doctor, lawyer, financier, etc., but they are perfectly acceptable positions with plenty of potential for growth and satisfaction and they make perfect sense for people who don’t want to spend the time or money on a 4-year degree. They also are about to be much more lucrative and offer more job security.

Learn more in Blue Collar Cash.