Can Meta’s New $115M Academy Fix the American Workforce?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Brian Kilmeade Show

Episode: Can Meta’s New $115M Academy Fix the American Workforce?
Date: June 9, 2026
Host: Brian Kilmeade
Guests: Dina Powell McCormick (President of Meta), Mike Rowe (CEO of MicroWorks Foundation)

---

Episode Overview

This episode centers on Meta’s launch of "America’s Workforce Academy," a $115 million initiative aimed at addressing the skilled labor shortage in the United States. Brian Kilmeade discusses the announcement with Meta President Dina Powell McCormick and Mike Rowe, CEO of the MicroWorks Foundation and a long-time advocate for blue-collar trades. The conversation delves into the structural challenges facing America’s workforce, Meta’s approach to upskilling, and the wider call for corporate involvement in workforce training.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Skilled Labor Shortage and Meta’s Motivation

• The Need: The U.S. faces an urgent shortfall of skilled tradespeople, especially electricians, essential for the buildout of new infrastructure, including AI-driven data centers. (B, 00:45)

  "We need 500,000 new electricians in the United States over the next four years. And yet awesome people who could be candidates for that just can't make it there right now for a few reasons." — Dina Powell McCormick [00:45]

• The Barriers: Existing workers (e.g., Uber drivers, grocery clerks, waitresses) often cannot leave jobs for traditional, unpaid training.
• Meta’s Solution: Meta’s new Academy offers paid, on-site training, a credential for life, and a guaranteed job on a Meta project site. (B, 00:45–02:07)

The Scale and Urgency of Infrastructure Demands

• AI Infrastructure Race: Data centers are critical for America’s future competitiveness in AI and technology.

  "It's just a question of scaling them. And the challenge is to do it yesterday. We're in a race. China plays for keeps." — Mike Rowe [02:19]

• Global Perspective: Mike Rowe references Larry Fink's estimation that $10 trillion is being invested in infrastructure and warns that the only barrier is skilled labor. (C, 02:19)

Meta’s Level Up Program: Proof of Demand

• Pilot Success: The Level Up program for fiber technicians received 35,000 applications for just 1,000 openings within seven days — a staggering response showing massive untapped demand. (A/B, 04:12–04:38)

  "When we launched…we could not believe that we got 35,000 applications. And it really is how we then went to Mark and the leadership at Meta and said, there's something really big here and we've got to scale it." — Dina Powell McCormick [04:38]

• Program Features: Four weeks of paid, on-site training, licensing, and guaranteed employment opportunities.

Historic and National Imperative

• Framing the Mission: Dina Powell McCormick likens the effort to WWII’s mobilization, highlighting the importance of domestic capacity in winning the “AI race.” (B, 04:38–06:21)

  "If we don't build the AI infrastructure required, we don't win the race in AI and we let other countries take that advantage. And so we think these are the people that are going to help America win." — Dina Powell McCormick [05:58]

Reframing Vocational Trades

• Changing Perceptions: Mike Rowe reflects on the entrenched bias toward four-year degrees and the cultural need to “put our thumb on the scale” in favor of trades. (C, 06:56)

  "This idea that going in one direction is going to doom you to a life of like turning a wrench or something, that is over. The color of collars is over. This is a bold new world." — Mike Rowe [07:55]

• Systemic Change Needed: Solutions must be local and varied — “no playbook...will resonate in every state, every town, every community and every zip code.” (C, 06:56)

• Diversity and Equity: Ensuring participation across genders, regions, and communities, with particular emphasis on veterans and women. (B, 09:19; C, 10:06)

  "The percentage of women entering the welding trade is shockingly high. We're at like 3x the national average." — Mike Rowe [10:06]

Widening the Coalition

• Beyond Meta: America’s Workforce Academy aims to partner with other major companies, unions, and nonprofits, amplifying scale and reach, including groups like the National Urban League. (B, 09:19)

  "We are really excited to scale this in a big way with anybody that wants to work with us...the National Urban League and Marc Morial are going to be a nominating partner." — Dina Powell McCormick [09:19]

• Challenge to Industry: Mike Rowe urges other “grown up” companies to follow Meta’s lead, creating their own pipelines into the skilled trades. (C, 08:58)

  "Meta is essentially challenging every other grown up company in this country to do, in their own way, something that rhymes." — Mike Rowe [08:58]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Brian Kilmeade to Mike Rowe:

  "I've never seen you as upbeat as you were in Pennsylvania...and you talked about the need for blue collar workers and how it's going to interact with the future." [00:00]

• Mike Rowe on Labor Shortage:

  "We have the money and we have the will, but we just don't have the skilled labor in place." [02:40]

• On Dignity of Work:

  "I hope that this generation of young people recognize the honor and dignity of work and recognize how much they need to respect the men and women that are in these fields, in these positions." — Dina Powell McCormick [10:57]

• On the Evolution of Work:

  "Training and certification are on equal playing fields, if not even a little elevated than, than the traditional four year rubric." — Mike Rowe [08:09]

• Meta’s Offer to Collaborate:

  "We want to have more partners...we are really excited to scale this in a big way with anybody that wants to work with us." — Dina Powell McCormick [09:19]

---

Important Timestamps

• 00:45 — Dina Powell McCormick explains the program and the barriers the Academy aims to address.
• 02:19 — Mike Rowe on the AI-driven boom and infrastructure race.
• 04:12 — Brian Kilmeade details the overwhelming demand for Level Up.
• 06:56 — Mike Rowe on systemic workforce challenges and the need for many approaches.
• 09:19 — Discussion of partnerships and efforts to reach wider, more diverse communities.
• 10:06 — Mike Rowe on women's participation in skilled trades.
• 10:57 — Dina Powell McCormick reflects on personal pride and the generational message.

---

Episode Tone & Style

The discussion is energetic, accessible, and driven by a shared sense of national urgency. Both guests regularly reference American history and pride, promote inclusivity and dignity of work, and swap light banter with the host. Mike Rowe provides candid, often personal observations, while Dina Powell McCormick emphasizes partnership and scale.

---

Key Takeaways

• The American labor market is facing an unprecedented skilled trades shortage, especially with rising infrastructure demands driven by new technologies like AI.
• Meta’s America’s Workforce Academy seeks to dismantle financial and logistical barriers by offering paid training, certification, and job placement.
• There is enormous demand for these programs, as shown by Meta’s recent pilot.
• The Academy is a call-to-action — both for individuals from all backgrounds and for other corporations to join a generational effort to build America’s future workforce.
• The guests advocate for ending the “color of collars” divide and restoring respect and dignity to all forms of work.

---

For listeners interested in workforce issues, AI infrastructure, or how major companies are moving to shape the future of employment, this episode offers both insight and inspiration.

Transcript

[A]

But it's my privilege to bring in two people I respect among the most in the world. Dina Powell McCormick, president now of Meta. And they have a big announcement because she is with Micro, the CEO of MicroWorks foundation, one of the most respected people in the country. Who doesn't. Who's never worn a tie according to reports. Never worn a tie. Dina, I knew how important. Mike, in my opinion, we've known each other for a while. I've never seen you as upbeat as you were in Pennsylvan. Think it was when you sat on a panel with Senator Dave McCormick and you talked about the need for blue collar workers and how it's going to inter interact with the future. That all plays into your big announcement today, right, Dina?

[B]

It sure does. And Brian, thank you so much for having us on. It is such a special honor for me to be with Mike, someone, as you say, I have admired for so many years. You know, folks today are talking about the American workforce, but it really started with Mike and Microworks Foundation 18 years ago. He has saying these are American heroes on a different kind of frontline, which is building America. And at Meta, we have truly long believed that everyone deserves a pathway to being part of this economic revitalization and transformation. It's just been there are too many barriers today. We need 500,000 new electricians in the United States over the next four years. And yet awesome people who could be candidates for that just can't make it there right now for a few reasons. If you're a Uber driver, if you are a grocery clerk, if you're a waitress, like how I paid my way through college waiting tables, you can't take a week or two or three or four off to get the training. And so what America's Workforce Academy does is provide individuals like those extraordinary Americans with paid training, a credential that they'll have for life, and, and a guaranteed job on a Meta work site. And we just really believe that during this transformation, no one in America should be left behind, that the future is for everyone.

[A]

And because of these data centers, especially. Right, Mike, that are going to forge Meta into AI and everything else, you need electricians, you need plumbers, you need pipe fitters to do that. So tell me how this program's going to work.

[C]

Well, I mean, yeah, the data centers are a big deal. And it's worth saying too, that it's not like they just popped out of nowhere on account of AI. Data centers have been around for, for decades and they're at the root of every form of modern connectivity that we know of. It's just a question of scaling them. And the challenge is to do it yesterday. We're in a race. China plays for keeps. And this is a really important part of building out what Larry Fink has described as a $10 trillion infrastructure. We have the money and we have the will, but we just don't have the skilled labor in place. And Brian, you know, I'm a broken record on this. We've been talking about it for years. But the thing that's exciting for me is to see consequential companies in the Fortune 500 really paying attention to this. And you'll see leaders emerge in the coming weeks and months. I'm delighted that met is doing this because to your point, what they've done is they've taken the friction out of the transaction. And so if you're a young man or woman who is honestly trying to figure out if there's a future for you in the skilled trades, but balancing that against transportation cost, training, cost, tools, various certifications, it's daunting, you know, and the barrier to entry has always been a problem. So I think the private sector is going to play an enormous role in correcting that. I think Meta, whether they intended to or not, has thrown down a gauntlet. There is an on ramp into these jobs. They've greased the skids. And I guarantee people are listening to this right now and doing the math and coming to the conclusion that these are opportunities.

[A]

So, Dina, you launch Level Up. It's a smaller training program focused on fiber installment. And in the first seven days, you received 35. 35,000 applications for a thousand openings. So demand is not the problem. You also, if I'm right, have put $115 million commitment into the first year for people to train. Knowing that I'm training instead of hoping to get a job, they will get a job out of it.

[B]

Absolutely. You know, honestly, Fiber up is, or excuse me, Level up is what showed us the real demand. That was a program very focused on an important role on any infrastructure site today, a fiber technician, the woman or man who is actually laying the fiber piping. In four weeks with Level up, you got the training on site. And as Mike said, we paid for all the costs. We paid for you to come to the site in Ohio. We just launched this to get the on site training. You graduate with a license as a fiber technician, and as I said earlier, a job at a meta site. But we understand if you might want to work in a different site too, you might take that credential and go elsewhere. 1000, we thought, was a good number to just really start and test the program. When we launched Brian, we could not believe that we got 35,000 applications. And it really is how we then went to Mark and the leadership at Meta and said, there's something really big here and we've got to scale it. And America's workforce Academy is really attempting to do just that, working alongside of a number of partners. But I got to tell you something that I think will matter a lot to you. Not only do we actually have, as Mike has always said for years, a number of veterans who would like to go into these trades. I think of this in a very, I think, historic way. During World War II, America came together to literally physically build the arsenal that defeated tyranny in the world. And we believe those American heroes are more needed than ever today because if we don't build the AI infrastructure required, we don't win the race in AI and we let other countries take that advantage. And so we think these are the people that are going to help America win.

[C]

Cheers to America's 250th birthday. Get 20% off your first purchase at foxnewswineshop.com with code FNRADIO 2020. Discount, excludes wine club offers and cannot be combined with any other promotion. Expires July 31, 2026. Must be 21 or older to order. Please drink responsibly.

[A]

So, Mike, help me with this. You have all these scholarships and you said, you know, for people to go to a trade school, and you said, I don't have enough people that want to get into the trades. Now Dean is coming out saying I had 35,000 applications for a thousand openings. What's changing? Or what about the calculus do I have wrong?

[C]

Well, nothing really. It's just that there's not a playbook that's going to resonate in every state, every town, every community and every zip code all at the same time. Part of what you're asking is a little bit out of my pay grade. But I've mentioned a terrific book to you before called Men Without Work by Nick Eberstadt. He's a great economist and he'll tell you that right now there's 6.8 million able bodied men who are not only not working, they're not looking for work. That's never happened in the history of our country. Not in peacetime anyway. And so you've got a giant cohort who's waiting to be persuaded at least Some of them are. So, you know, how do you talk to that cohort? How do you talk to the, the kid who's open minded but whose parents, God bless him, have it in their heads that the only path for them requires a four year degree. How do you make that case? Right, so we have to come at this thing from a lot of different angles. The feds have a role to play. Private, private industry has a role to play. Guidance counselors and parents. What I love that, what Dina is saying essentially is that we're going to put our thumb on the scale in this direction for once. For once we're going to say, look, the future does belong to everybody. It's wide and it's vast and you have options. But this idea that going in one direction is going to doom you to a life of like turning a wrench or something, that is over. The color of collars is over. This is a bold new world. Training and certification are on equal playing fields, if not even a little elevated than, than the traditional four year rubric. And as you know, Brian, that's, you know, that's near and dear to me. And finally too, what these guys are doing is a big part of the solution. But it's not the only way. Trade schools aren't going away in my estimation. They're going to be apprenticeships and scholarships and fellowships. And the real headline that I, that I hope you guys run with is that, is that Meta is essentially challenging every other grown up company in this country to do, in their own way, something that rhymes. That's powerful.

[A]

Hey, Dina.

[B]

Well, and Brian. Yes, sorry, go ahead.

[A]

No, no, go ahead.

[B]

I was just gonna say, you know, one of the things that we're really proud of is that it's called America's Workforce Academy because it is bigger than Meta. And yes, we are proud to have launched this initial phase with a number of great partners. We want to have more partners. We would be honored to work with more companies across the board. And many companies that we work with now have incredible programs, whether it's GM and Ford or BlackRock and Larry Fink and the leadership that he's doing. And so we are really excited to scale this in a big way with anybody that wants to work with us. And the National Urban League and Marc Morial are going to be a nominating partner. So we make sure people from all over are able to get into these trades. The women in trades, you know, there's a norm. What's the percentage, Mike, of women going into these fields?

[C]

You know, it's funny, we were talking last night at dinner about this, that the national average, if you look at women in construction, it'll vary from vertical to vertical. But in my foundation, and I don't know why this is the case, but we've got maybe 3,500 people we've assisted, and the percentage of women entering the welding trade is shockingly high. We're at like 3x the national average. Don't know why, but to my earlier point, that's another cohort. And I'm telling you, they. They're ready to go. You just have to meet them where they are and make a more persuasive.

[A]

And Dina, you guys got to. You told me you had to be out right now, so I'm going to keep that in mind. But my last question to you is, how did you do it? I mean, I've known Mike for a much longer. We've never had dinner. And you, you barely. You start a partnership. You're having dinner, you're talking casually professionally. Why? How did that happen?

[B]

Dina, listen, I feel pretty honored and lucky. I've been a girl fan of Mike Ro time and so is Brian. And I will tell you, and I will tell you, one of my daughters was there last night, and I felt so proud to introduce her to Mike because I hope that this generation of young people recognize the honor and dignity of work and recognize how much they need to respect the men and women that are in these fields, in these positions. And I just think it's really important to what Mike said that there is. Is dignity today, every kind of field.

[C]

Right?

[A]

And Dina, if you do decide to continue to work with Mike and he wants. And you want him to do your commercial, he'll do it on an iPhone. Working in a. Walking in a park. So he comes very cheap, do these ads. I don't know how the hell he pulls this off.

[B]

We are. We are excited to support him. I mean, I'm sorry. He's got a voice for radio and a face for tv, and that's like a pretty special combination.

[C]

Well, Brian, listen, man, I got some time later today if you want to hit the in N Out Burger.

[A]

Fine.

[C]

A drive through.

[A]

Fantastic. You got.

[B]

Thank you, Brian.

[A]

Congratulations on the job, too. And of course, Mike Rollo. It's great to have you on. They have a great announcement. America's Workforce Academy.