(NewsNation) — Johnny Taylor, president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, joined “The Hill on NewsNation” to discuss the next phase of the AI revolution: preparing workers for skilled trades. The conversation comes as Google and Meta invest heavily in workforce training amid a nationwide boom in data center construction.
“So, we have this funny little problem,” Taylor said. “We’ve been short on skilled-trades workers for a long time. We’ve been talking about it for decades. Then all of a sudden, the data center boom occurs, and people are looking for talent, and we don’t have it.”
According to Taylor, this is the first time demand for skilled-trades workers has significantly outpaced supply.
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Taylor said the root of the problem is the declining birthrate. The U.S. has faced a declining birthrate since 2000, and the rate fell further during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The result is we simply didn’t have enough babies,” Taylor said. “And the ones we had, well, they all went to college. And they weren’t interested in these skilled-trade jobs.”
The jobs considered among the safest as AI continues to expand include electricians, plumbers and nurse practitioners, according to the U.S. Career Institute. The careers most at risk include software developers, copywriters and marketing positions. An estimated 300,000 electricians will be needed over the next decade.
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Construction workers, welders and HVAC technicians will also be in high demand, Taylor said.
Anthropic recently released a report projecting AI’s impact on the workforce. The report estimates AI could displace about 8% of knowledge workers, or roughly one in every 13 employees whose jobs involve regular use of AI tools.
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“I think these are moderate examples,” Taylor said. “Our data says 6% displacement in the short term. But in five to seven years, we think that number could get up to 15% job displacement.”
Google has pledged to train 25,000 veterans for skilled-trades jobs, while Meta is investing $115 million in construction workforce training programs.
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The investments come as more companies encourage employees to embrace AI tools to improve efficiency.
“If your workforce is not using AI, not embracing AI, you’re going to lose the battle,” Taylor said. “And frankly, CEOs are charged with winning.”
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