The need for trade workers, the rise of AI, and the astronomical cost of a four-year degree are fueling a workers’ revolution — and demand is growing astronomically.

Former Dirty Jobs host and mikeroweWORKS Foundation CEO Mike Rowe joined FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co” to discuss the dire need for skilled trade workers and why the demand will grow with the implementation of Artificial or “Super” Intelligence.

“So what you’re seeing across dozens and dozens of trades are shortages that are more or less universal. But individually, trade to trade, state to state, there’s variance,” Rowe said.

Rowe said he’s hearing about the urgency directly from corporate leaders who are “freaking out.”

“Every week I get a call, either from a CEO of some big company or some consequential industry. And they’re freaking out. This workforce thing is the problem of the decade, and it’s not gonna go away until we come at it from a different angle,” he said.

There are some silver linings, however, as Rowe noted the stigma around trade work is diminishing as Americans realize that perhaps, going into life-long debt for, say, a “cyber feminism” degree when you could have come out of the gates making bank as a plumber wasn’t the best idea.

AI is also playing a part in reshaping the job market, and the need for skilled electricians and other trades to build and run data centers is skyrocketing.

“Just through my foundation alone, the demand is up 10x over the same time a year ago,” Rowe said. “So something has definitely changed out there in the ether, and I suspect AI has a lot to do with it.”

🤖Al is changing the job market, but what does that mean for skilled trade workers?
We sat down with Mike Rowe (@mikeroweworks) to talk about how the rise of Al could impact trade jobs and the workers who keep America running. ” 🔨⚡️
Do you think blue-collar jobs are truly… pic.twitter.com/XBhsOxgcEs

— Varney & Co. (@Varneyco) September 30, 2026

The Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades “found the U.S. is expected to face roughly 1.7 million skilled trades job openings each year through 2035, while training programs are producing only about 55 workers for every 100 needed,” Fox Business reported.

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