CEO of mikeroweWorks Foundation Mike Rowe joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss people transitioning from white collar to blue collar and the launch of an initiative in Texas to promote skilled trades.
If artificial intelligence As white-collar workplaces are shaken up, Mike Rowe warns of a quieter but important shift among workers that could change the way Americans view work, pay and job security.
According to the “Dirty Jobs” host, employers in all industries are scrambling to fill skilled trade positions, exposing an employment gap that has widened through decades of emphasis on four-year college degrees.
There is a demand for skilled workers, these trade jobs pay the most
Mike Rowe, CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, at Ford Pro Accelerate in Detroit, Michigan on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. (Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“The auto industry needs more than 100,000 skilled workers immediately… BlackRock’s Larry Fink talks about the four to five hundred thousand electricians needed in his portfolio of companies alone,” Rowe said.
“The data center push, shipbuilding and the U.S. maritime industrial base alone are looking for 400,000 skilled workers. It goes well beyond just the construction industry.”
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A job seeker attends a Veteran Employment and Resource Fair in Long Beach, California on January 9, 2024. (Eric Thayer/Bloomberg/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Rowe’s warning reflects a “Wall Street JournalThe report published last week showed that many white-collar workers were feeling increasingly ‘stuck’, facing layoffs, stagnant wages and repeated job cuts, as demand for skilled workers continues to rise.
That report also highlighted the same driving force behind the shift: the rapid advance of artificial intelligence.
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Mike Rowe, CEO of the mikeroweWorks Foundation, joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping the American workforce and why traditional trade jobs offer the most security.
“Certainly, no one has a crystal ball, but it seems pretty clear, and I haven’t talked to anyone who disagrees with the idea that the category of jobs or cohort of workers least likely to be disrupted by AI is welders and electricians, steam fitters and pipe fitters, and energy workers and so on,” Rowe said.
