In Alabama, students are trained for roles that can’t be wiped out by AI
AI is already rapidly reshaping white-collar employment: MBA and law degree programs are no longer a guarantee of a great job. The answer, a school in Alabama has decided, is training young people as skilled tradespeople rather than despair.
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AI is already rapidly reshaping white-collar employment: MBA and law degree programs are no longer a guarantee of a great job. The answer, a school in Alabama has decided, is training young people as skilled tradespeople rather than despair.
The Huntsville Center for Technology in Alabama has partnered with Toyota to train 700 high-school students for roles that pay $40 an hour and cannot be automated.
According to Zac McWhorter, the school’s principal, the program is a response to the unfortunate fact that the US has a dire shortage of skilled tradespeople. Specifically in Alabama, Toyota needs people to assemble the car engines.
“We asked what specific program or pathway you guys need, and we can address,” he told Fortune.
“They said they needed more industrial maintenance workers. So the Inditech program came about through the collaboration with Toyota Alabama.”
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The problem is very real. According to some estimates, a looming shortage of workers in the skilled trades risks costing the US $1 trillion a year.
By 2030, an estimated 2.1 million skilled trades jobs in the country could go unfilled, the US Department of Education said in January. Many workers today are of retirement age.
Industry observers also say that the problem has grown even more dire as data center developers seek skilled electricians, construction workers, and other trades professionals to help build the massive AI infrastructure buildout.
Since there are simply too many college-educated white-collar workers right now and AI automation will replace quite a few of them anyway, projects like the Alabama one seem important.
Salaries for skilled tradespeople are actually attractive. Data from Skillit shows that, for instance, data center construction workers could earn an average of about $81,800 annually – more than workers earn on average across the US.
The Alabama program trains students for industrial maintenance, and they’re very keen to earn more early in their careers.
Instructor Jack Crowley told Fortune: “You’d be making over $40 an hour, for which with little to no student debt, is a very good proposition for income at an early stage.”
Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman recently told Financial Times that most, if not all, white-collar office tasks will be fully automated by AI within 12 to 18 months.
“When they started hearing that we have a 21- or 22-year-old team member who had gotten married, bought a house, had a car, had a boat, you could just see their eyes lighting up about the potential of this type of career,” said Sydney Martin, a corporate comms analyst and a lead at Toyota Alabama for the Inditech program.
There are no guarantees, of course. But the path for white-collar workers may indeed be a lot rougher.
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Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman recently told Financial Times that most, if not all, white-collar office tasks will be fully automated by AI within 12 to 18 months.
And last year, Anthropic boss Dario Amodei warned that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs, although he later suggested that efficiency gains could expand demand and create more jobs over time.
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