KEY POINTS
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America’s construction and skilled-trades workforce is entering a period of high demand, but The State of America’s Skilled Trades: A National Report argues that the challenge is more complex than simply recruiting more workers.
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Demand is substantial, and replacement needs are driving the skilled trades shortage.
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There is no single national shortage. Workforce pressure varies by occupation and region.
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A list of industry priorities is presented that includes improving career exposure, guidance, and navigation into the skilled trades, and planning workforce investment around the source, scale, timing, and duration of demand.
What Does the State of America’s Skilled Trades Report Say About the Workforce?
America’s construction and skilled-trades workforce is entering a period of high demand, but The State of America’s Skilled Trades: A National Report argues that the challenge is more complex than simply recruiting more workers.
Released in September 2026 by the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades and supported by BlackRock, Carhartt, Ford Motor Company, and Google, with research led by Jobs for the Future (JFF) and the Burning Glass Institute, the report examines 124 occupations and calls for better awareness, clearer pathways, and more targeted workforce investment. [Read about the Alliance here]
What Are Skilled Trades?
The report defines skilled-trades as the workers who "build, install, operate, maintain, repair, fabricate, or extract the physical materials, products, equipment, systems, and infrastructure the U.S. economy relies on."
Using these criteria, 124 occupations were included by researchers across construction, installation, maintenance and repair, production, and extraction.
How Large is America’s Skilled-Trades Workforce Need?
The State of America’s Skilled Trades report highlights the scale of the skilled-trades workforce challenge through three national indicators.
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More than 18 million people work in skilled-trades occupations and contribute an estimated $3.8 trillion to U.S. GDP in 2025.
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Employers are projected to fill about 1.7 million openings annually through 2035, including more than 600,000 net new positions.
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Replacement demand is a major factor. Twenty-four percent of skilled-trades workers are 55 or older, compared with 11% under 25.
Across measurable formal training pathways, roughly 55 people are being prepared for every 100 workers needed nationally.
Is There One National Skilled-Trades Shortage?
The report finds that workforce pressure varies significantly across trades and regions.
Researchers show which occupations may be harder to staff over time because of factors such as workforce aging, projected growth, and a limited pipeline of new entrants. That context helps employers prioritize recruiting, training, retention, or succession planning.
Findings from the Labor Shortage Index compares 523 occupations using factors such as workforce aging, projected growth, and new entrants, include:
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Industrial machinery mechanics, maintenance workers, and millwrights rank at the 98th percentile nationally, meaning they face more structural pressure than most occupations in the index. Electricians rank at the 85th percentile.
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These percentile rankings are comparison points, not vacancy rates. As the authors state, a 98th-percentile score indicates greater shortage pressure than that experienced by 98% of occupations. It does not mean that 98% of jobs are unfilled.
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Carpenters, HVAC mechanics and installers, and plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters rank between the 73rd and 75th percentiles, signaling above-average shortage pressure, more than 73 and 75 percent of other occupations respectively, but less relative pressure than the highest-ranked trades.
One point emphasized in the report is that for construction workforce planning, the right response depends on a construction firm identifying the primary issue first. That may be awareness, training capacity, apprenticeship completion, retirement, worker mobility, or project timing.
In other words, fixing the skilled trades shortage is not as simple as hire more people.
The Labor Shortage Index reflects structural hiring pressure, not unfilled jobs, across workforce, education, licensing, AI exposure, and growth indicators. Percentiles rank 523 occupations nationally. For instance, a 98th-percentile score means greater shortage pressure than 98% of occupations, not that 98% of jobs are unfilled. The industrial machinery profile combines three related occupations. Image: The State of America’s Skilled Trades: A National Report
Why Are Skilled-Trades Careers Still Hard to Navigate?
The report says students and families need practical information about occupations, entry requirements, paid training, working conditions, earnings, and advancement.
Public attitudes are relatively positive, as 81% of parents would be proud if their child went to trade school, as would 71% of teens, while 95% of counselors view trade school as credible.
Yet, only 54% of counselors often recommend vocational or trade school, and just 28% often recommend apprenticeship.
Why Do Skilled-Trades Pathways Lose People After They Start?
Among 100 apprenticeship starters, 48 complete and 29 enter a trade occupation within five years. Among 100 related postsecondary starters, 48 complete and 34 enter a skilled trade.
Outcomes vary widely, showing that program quality, mentorship, supportive services, and direct employer connections can improve persistence.
Employers are part of the training infrastructure because hands-on, supervised work is essential.
What Can Employers and Educators Do to Strengthen the Skilled-Trades Workforce?
The report identifies four priorities, not exhaustive its authors stated, for strengthening the skilled-trades workforce, including:
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Focus on training program quality and outcomes. Invest in current instruction and equipment, structured onboarding, effective supervision, mentorship, progress monitoring, and early intervention.
Measure completion, related employment, earnings, retention, and advancement, not enrollment alone, and address practical barriers such as transportation, child care, tools, and housing when they affect persistence.
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Strengthen and connect the systems that prepare people for skilled-trades careers. Create smoother transitions among Career and Technical education (CTE), pre-apprenticeship, postsecondary education, Registered Apprenticeships, work-based learning, and employment.
Shared infrastructure and intermediaries can help smaller employers provide high-quality workplace learning without building the full system alone.
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Improve career exposure, guidance, and navigation into the skilled trades. Give counselors, students, and families clear information about local programs, entry requirements, costs, paid training, outcomes, working conditions, and advancement.
Present skilled-trades pathways alongside traditional college options and make the handoff from interest to an employer, apprenticeship sponsor, or training provider easier.
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Plan workforce investment around the source, scale, timing, and duration of demand. Distinguish growth from replacement needs and temporary hiring peaks from sustained demand before investing.
Workforce planning, its authors' state, should begin while major infrastructure, manufacturing, energy, transportation, and data-center projects are being structured so training capacity and employer commitments are ready when workers are needed.
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