We’re staring down a skilled labor crisis and it’s not some sudden disaster. It’s been coming for decades at a slow, steady pace—economic changes, cultural shifts, and policy decisions that chipped away at the trades year after year.
Now the "Silver Tsunami" is here—over four million Boomers retired in 2024 alone. Businesses are already feeling the pain, and it’s only getting worse.
If we want to fix this mess, we need to understand how we got here in the first place. History isn’t just a collection of old stories—it’s a roadmap, full of warnings we ignored and lessons we can’t afford to miss again. So let’s take a walk through time and see exactly where things started to go sideways.
1700s–1800s: The Early Days—When Trades Were King
In the early days of the United States, skilled trades weren’t just jobs—they were survival. Blacksmiths, masons, and carpenters didn’t just build homes and businesses; they built the country itself.
Unlike Europe, where rigid class structures kept the best-paying trades locked away, America was different. Here, a skilled worker could carve out a future—own land, build wealth, even gain political clout. Trade work wasn’t just respected; it was power. And if you had the skills, you named your price.
Trade workers earned three to four times what their European counterparts made. Skilled labor was in high demand, and apprenticeship programs were a key entry point for young workers. But as the economy evolved, priorities shifted, and so did the perception of trade work.
1970s–2000s: The Slow Fade—When Hard Work Got a PR Problem
By the late 1970s, the foundation of America’s workforce had started to crack. Manufacturing jobs, once the backbone of the economy, started disappearing. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. manufacturing employment peaked in 1979 at 19.6 million jobs. By 2019, that number had plummeted to 12.8 million as industries automated and moved operations overseas. Meanwhile, the service sector exploded, with employment doubling from 48.8 million in 1970 to over 107 million by 2000.
Automation and globalization moved many industrial roles overseas, shifting the economy toward service-based and white-collar work. With fewer clear career paths in the trades, the perception of manual labor changed. Finance and tech took center stage, promising prestige and higher salaries, while skilled trades were quietly pushed aside—no longer seen as the backbone of the economy, but as a fallback option.
Young workers were told to aim higher—except "higher" meant a desk, not a workbench.
1960s–2000s: The College Boom
The 1960s and 70s marked a cultural turning point—college became more than an option; it became an expectation. As student loans flowed freely, higher education seemed more accessible than ever, though the true cost would only become clear later. Meanwhile, vocational education quietly disappeared from high schools across America. Shop class? Gone. Auto mechanics? Scrapped. The message was clear: success meant a degree, not a trade.
Working with your hands became seen as a fallback option—something you did if you couldn't 'make it' in college. The irony?
While a generation accumulated massive debt for degrees that didn't guarantee jobs, the trades—the jobs that literally keep our world running—were left behind.
This shift created a stigma that still haunts the trades today. A survey from Stanley Black and Decker found 85% of young people acknowledge skilled trades as a good career option, but just 16% say they're likely to pursue a trade career themselves. The stigma that trade work is a 'backup plan' clearly hasn't left us—even if we pretend it has
2000s–Today: Boomers Holding On, Apprenticeships Dragging Out
Today's trades are caught in a painful squeeze. Not only did we lose a generation of potential skilled workers, but those now trying to enter the field have hit an unexpected wall. Baby Boomers are holding onto specialized, higher-paying roles longer than ever, with the number of Americans working past 65 quadrupling since the 1980s. The result? Entry-level positions offer lower pay and limited advancement, while senior roles stay occupied, creating a workforce stuck in neutral.
Young workers now face a double bind. While college offers a predictable four-year path to a degree, trades require lengthy apprenticeships that can stretch on for years with no clear end in sight. These programs demand on-the-job training at low wages, and with experienced workers retiring later, advancement opportunities keep getting pushed further down the road. For a generation raised on promises of clear career paths, this uncertainty is a tough sell. Yet, every year this hesitation continues, the gap between available skilled jobs and qualified workers only grows wider.
2024 and Beyond: The Silver Tsunami—A Workforce Crisis Unfolding
The skilled labor shortage has moved past warnings—it's a crisis unfolding in real time. The next generation isn’t stepping in fast enough to replace them, widening the skills gap. The result? Rising labor costs, longer project timelines, and an industry struggling to find qualified workers to take the reins.
This isn’t the first time America has faced a skilled labor shortage and probably won't be the last unless we do something. We need to modernize training, use technology to capture expertise before it’s lost, and reshape how younger generations perceive the trades. If we don't, we're just kicking the can down an increasingly empty road
What’s Next?
The first step to survival? Understanding exactly what we're up against.
Get the full picture of how this crisis will impact your business. Download our whitepaper: The Skilled Labor Crisis Isn't Coming: It's Here.
