As artificial intelligence shakes up white-collar workplaces, Mike Rowe warns of a quieter but significant shift among blue-collar workers that could reshape how Americans view work, wages and job security.
“AI is coming for coders. It’s not coming yet for welders, and that basic understanding has taken hold,” Rowe said Tuesday on FOX Business.Varney & Co.”
According to the “Dirty Jobs” host, employers across industries are scrambling to fill positions in skilled trades, revealing a labor gap widened by decades of emphasis on four-year college degrees.
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Mike Rowe, CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, at Ford Pro Accelerate in Detroit, Michigan, Tuesday, September 30, 2025. (Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg/Getty Images / Getty Images)
“The auto industry needs more than 100,000 skilled workers immediately…Larry Fink of BlackRock is talking about four to 500,000 electricians needed in his portfolio of companies alone,” Rowe said.
“The data center surge, shipbuilding and the U.S. maritime industrial base alone are seeking 400,000 skilled workers. This goes well beyond just the construction sector.”
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A job seeker attends a veterans career and resources fair in Long Beach, California, January 9, 2024. (Eric Thayer/Bloomberg/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Rowe’s warning reflects a “The Wall Street Journal” report released last week, which found that many white-collar workers are feeling increasingly “stuck,” facing layoffs, stagnant wages and repeated rejections, as demand for skilled labor continues to rise.
This report also highlighted the same driving force behind this change: the fast forward of artificial intelligence.
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“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 job category or cohort of workers least likely to be disrupted by AI will be welders, electricians, steam and pipefitters, energy workers, etc.,” Rowe said.
