Thousands flocked to a workforce development organization’s annual conference this week, which focuses on giving the next generation of skilled workers the opportunity to network with employers and test their abilities in competitions.
More than 17,500 people – including students, teachers and industry leaders – attended SkillsUSA’s National Leadership & Skills Conference in Atlanta between Tuesday and Friday, the organization’s website noted.
The conference, touted as the largest gathering of the country’s future skilled workforce, allowed 6,800 students to compete against each other across 114 different trades and leadership fields. The week-long event also had keynote speakers, hands-on activities, leadership trainings and more.
SKILLED WORKERS ARE IN DEMAND, THESE TRADE JOBS PAY THE MOST
During the event, the Skilled Careers Coalition – a group that focuses on connecting skilled trade workers with industry leaders – also hosted a range of initiatives to “address the most pressing challenges between the skilled trades sector and the shrinking labor pool,” according to an announcement from the coalition.
MIKE ROWE WARNS OF TROUBLING TREND AMONG WORKING-AGE MEN, SAYS TRADES ARE THE ANSWER
This included a gathering in which content creators, staff from elected officials’ offices and representatives from companies like Lowe’s, TikTok and John Deere, discussed how cross-sector collaboration can be used to close the skilled trades workforce gap and recruit the next generation of professionals, the announcement noted.
“Thanks to our growing alliance of committed, like-minded partners, we are reaching young people where they are to influence career decisions while creating a robust pipeline for recruitment,” Mark Hedstrom, executive director of the Skilled Careers Coalition, said in a statement.
DEMAND FOR SKILLED WORKERS ON THE RISE
More than 1 million trade jobs remain unfilled in the U.S., driven by an aging and retiring workforce as well as a societal bias toward college degrees, according to Forbes.
“The time is now to move further and faster in addressing the gap between supply and demand for skilled talent as the sector faces even greater pressures from housing shortages, reshoring of manufacturing and booming industries like robotics and mechatronics, which are putting added stress on an already tight labor market,” Hedstrom said.
While the demand for skilled workers has surged, recent college graduates, on the other hand, face a different reality. Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated the labor market “deteriorated noticeably” in the first quarter of 2025, with those just entering the workforce taking the hardest hits.
The highest-paying trade jobs in 2024 included ultrasonographer, respiratory therapist, dental hygienist, construction manager and airport mechanic, according to Indeed.
FOX Business’ Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.
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