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- [00:04]
A
What an interesting conversation you're about to listen to. This is micro. You're listening to the way I heard it. And, you know, I wasn't sure what to expect, Chuck, because as a rule, we don't really have politicians on the podcast. Although this guy is technically no longer one.
- [00:21]
B
Former.
- [00:21]
A
Former. Yeah. He's a congressman out of Pennsylvania, a Democrat named Jason Altmire, but well regarded. Really by. Well, as well regarded as one can be in that.
- [00:35]
B
In the center. Yeah, He's Blue Dog Democrat.
- [00:37]
A
He's a Blue Dog Democrat. Yeah. And he wrote a book called Trade Up. And I skimmed through the PDF enough to realize I liked it, enough to write a blurb. You know what? And forgive me if that sounds somewhat lazy, as a guy who runs a work ethic scholarship program, I do intend on reading the book, but it hasn't come out yet. In real time. It's out now as you listen to this. But I didn't have a physical copy. And I wanted to talk to the guy because everything that I saw in the book, I not only agreed with, I agreed with wild enthusiasm.
- [01:17]
C
Yeah.
- [01:17]
B
I mean, the subtitle is why the Future Belongs to Skilled Trades and New Career Education Is Transforming the Workforce. Now, if that's not in your wheelhouse, your. You don't have a wheelhouse.
- [01:28]
A
Yeah. True enough. In his book, he mentions what we're doing here at the foundation. He mentions a couple of recipients of microwork scholarships, which is great. What I like about this guy is that he really understands what led to the problem.
- [01:46]
B
Yes.
- [01:47]
A
And he can talk about it from a political standpoint because he's been in the swamp, but he's also out of it now.
- [01:55]
C
Yeah.
- [01:56]
A
And so he's got a lot of ideas about what private industry can do. And selfishly, it's. It's fun to talk to people who agree with you, especially on this topic.
- [02:09]
B
You have overlap in the Venn diagram. Yeah, for sure.
- [02:13]
C
Yeah.
- [02:13]
A
And by the way, for those of you who ask from time to time, you know, why don't you ever have a Democrat on. Well, I mean, it's nothing personal. I don't go out of my way to avoid them. And this guy, it never would have occurred to me which way he voted.
- [02:28]
B
I literally found out he was a Democrat today before he came in. I believe you informed me of that.
- [02:34]
A
I did.
- [02:34]
B
Which is really ridiculous.
- [02:35]
A
Moments before I learned that the book he had written that I was here to talk about. We don't have.
- [02:41]
B
We don't have it.
- [02:41]
C
Yeah.
- [02:42]
A
So, you know, we got off to A wobbly start me and Chuck did. But. But this guy is terrific. Jason Altmeyer is his name. Trade up is the name of his book. It could just as well have been called an homage to my friend Mike Rowe and his hard work at Mike Roeworks.
- [02:59]
B
100%. This is a conversation that is so in your wheelhouse. Anybody who follows you, anybody who is interested in your foundation will be interested in this conversation. So I want to say this one more time, Mike. You should share this episode with people with like minded people who understand that there really is a skills gap and that we need to. We need to close it.
- [03:23]
A
Are you talking to me or to the listener?
- [03:24]
B
I'm talking directly to you. But yeah, I'm. No, I'm talking.
- [03:27]
A
I'm not going to. Of course I'm going to share it. I share all these episodes.
- [03:30]
B
I do love that about you.
- [03:31]
A
Yes. Here's the thing. Last week, during a preamble not unlike the one you're listening to now, just Chuck encouraged people to share the actual episode, and it resulted in a sizable uptick.
- [03:46]
B
People did what I said, Mike. It was very. I felt very powerful.
- [03:49]
A
Right. Right. So we're gonna try it again. And if it happens again, then God help us, we're gonna do it again. This is all you're gonna hear from Chuck for the rest of his life. Share the episode if you like it and even if you don't. I'm calling it Trade up. Because that's what Jason calls his book. And it's terrific. We'll prove it right after this. If you want unlimited talk, text and data on a super fast network, Big Wireless will sell it to you right now for 70, 80, or 90 bucks a month. Or you can buy the Same thing from PureTalk for a whole lot less. I'm talking about unlimited talk text and unlimited data on a blazing fast network for just $34.99 a month. But wait, there's. There's more. When you switch to PureTalk, you'll be in business with an American wireless company that's committed to keeping 100% of its customer service in this country. I appreciate that. I also appreciate the way they support our vets and our skilled workforce. PureTalk supports a lot of terrific causes, including Microworks. Don't get me wrong. Saving money is an excellent reason to switch to PureTalk. And you'll save a boatload with when you do. But I bet you'll also like doing business with people who share your values. I do. Try it. Go to PureTalk.com ro make it happen. $34.99 for unlimited talk, text and data with an American wireless company. That actually stands for something. PureTalk.com ro Pure Talk. Really appreciate you taking the time, Jason. All the way from Florida, was it?
- [05:32]
C
Yes. I live near Jacksonville, Florida. Ponte Vedra Beach.
- [05:36]
A
So you got out of the swamp.
- [05:38]
C
I did.
- [05:39]
A
I did.
- [05:39]
C
On the other coast.
- [05:40]
A
Now, very few politicians have been on this podcast. A couple. How long have you been out?
- [05:49]
C
14 years I've been out of office.
- [05:51]
A
And you were a congressman for a time.
- [05:53]
C
Three term congressman, yes. So I don't consider myself a politician. I did dabble in politics a little bit, but that's not my career.
- [06:01]
A
You lost a bet. What happened? Three years. So it was Pennsylvania, right?
- [06:05]
C
Correct.
- [06:06]
A
And you're on the D side.
- [06:07]
C
Yes. I was a Democrat.
- [06:09]
A
Was.
- [06:10]
C
Still. Yeah, I'm still a Democrat.
- [06:12]
B
Yeah.
- [06:14]
A
Well, good.
- [06:14]
C
I work with both sides, which was part of the issue of my departure.
- [06:18]
A
Right. So that didn't go over well. Your.
- [06:22]
C
It goes over very well in the general election. It does not go over well in the primary.
- [06:27]
A
Primaries. Eat you alive. What's it say here in my handy dandy. AI generated. No. Did I just admit that? Notes. Serving three terms, 07 to 13, Altmire was known as a centrist Democrat emphasizing bipartisan. Yeah, you were doomed. The National Journal ranks his voting record at the ideological midpoint of the House. He chaired the Small Business Subcommittee on Oversight and investigations and had 29 legislative initiatives enacted. That's. That's 29. That's a bunch.
- [07:00]
C
For six years. That's pretty good.
- [07:02]
A
Yeah. Says your pragmatic record earned you respect across party lines and a reputation for independence. So here you are.
- [07:13]
C
Sounds good.
- [07:14]
A
Independent. As independent as possible at this point.
- [07:17]
C
Yes.
- [07:17]
A
Yeah.
- [07:18]
C
Work with both sides. This, what we're going to talk about, as you know very well, is an issue that affects everybody equally. So we're going to need all hands on deck to solve it.
- [07:26]
A
Well, I was so glad to get the PDF of your book. I was honored to write a blurb for it. I'm flattered. That's probably not the right word. Some weird mix of relieved, flattered, bemused, and kind of gobsmacked to see so much attention being paid to an issue that, you know, when I came to it in 2008, it was a very tough sell. This idea that college might not be the best path for the most people and that the trades might be something more than a vocational consolation prize. That was a lonesome time to be saying that tune.
- [08:03]
C
Right. That has Always been the trajectory of American higher education. College for all is the preferred path. And if you divert from that and you end up in the trades, you have somehow taken the lesser option.
- [08:17]
A
Right.
- [08:17]
C
And that's no longer the case, thankfully, or even worse.
- [08:20]
A
It's not that you took it, it's that maybe you didn't have a choice. Maybe the only thing left for you was this greasy, grimy, dirty descent into mediocrity, sorry, here's your wrench, have a nice life kind of thing.
- [08:35]
C
Right. That the people who couldn't hack it in college for whatever reason, then went to the lower path of the trades. And as you know better than anybody, trades are incredibly important to the future of the country. It's a national security issue that we don't have enough men and women going in that direction. So the fact that for so long we were discouraging people from taking that path, we really did a disservice to the country.
- [09:02]
A
We did a disservice to ourselves, I think. And I'm curious as to whether or not you might have a theory as to why we. I mean, is it a fault in our stars, this notion to resent almost the very things we rely upon?
- [09:20]
C
We researched this book for over a year, my co author Riley Burr and I, and what you find when you look at the trajectory of the involvement of corporations and foundations and academia influencers, people like yourself, leaders in the cause, it really has taken off. And it's taken off because I think for the first time people understand the paradox that exists, which is we have record numbers of college graduates that cannot find jobs, and we have record numbers of vacancies in high demand professions because employers can't find the work to fill those roles.
- [10:01]
A
And Sidebar. Record numbers of college graduates working in fields that had nothing to do with their major, and record numbers of college attendees who didn't graduate but nevertheless hold a sizable chunk of the 1.7 trillion outstanding dollars do. Yeah.
- [10:18]
C
Only 20% of college graduates feel like they're on the path that they went
- [10:23]
A
into college to pursue, whereas 100% of them paid dearly for it. Right. Yeah. So. All right, well, maybe rather than just talk so broadly and philosophically about why we would do that to ourselves as a species, what were the politics behind it? Do you have any thoughts on why our elected officials would permit such a logical fallacy to take such a. Such a grip and put us in such a fever dream?
- [10:56]
C
We have a higher education system that through inertia, has not changed in 100 years. More than 100 years, K through 12, high school, maybe college, maybe your career, whatever your path. But we've encouraged people to take that college path. And just because of that inertia, we as a country, not just the politicians, haven't done what needs to be done, which is take a step forward and think about where are the jobs of the future? What do we need now with data centers, cell chip manufacturers, all the things happening with infrastructure, shipbuilding, nuclear, transportation, construction. 52% of the nation's commercial inventory was built before 1990. Right?
- [11:47]
A
Half.
- [11:48]
C
So we're going to need some huge infrastructure repairs, just modernizing the electrical grid, all of these things that are facing the country. And now there's this realization, oh, we need the. Who's going to do this work? Where are they going to come from? Where are the electricians? Where are the plumbers? You talk about this all the time.
- [12:06]
A
Well, and you mentioned in a divided country where virtually everything is either owned by one party or the other, this issue still, I mean, I see the politics in it, but mostly I see 330 million people with skin in the game. I don't care how you vote. If your toilet doesn't do what it's supposed to do, when you hit the flush handle, you get bipartisan real fast. Nobody cares about your plumber's thoughts on geopolitics.
- [12:37]
C
You learn there's a good joke that a lawyer had a plumbing issue and he called a plumber, and the plumber fixed it, was there for an hour, handed him a bill for $500, and the lawyer said, I don't charge $500 in my law practice. And the plumber said, yeah, when I was a lawyer, I didn't charge that much either.
- [12:57]
A
Larry Fink at BlackRock told me that between now and 2033, he reckons that the infrastructure buildout, not the cost of tending to the current crumbling edifice we have, but the new stuff is going to be a $10 trillion spend, right? And, you know, it's very strange for me, like I said earlier, it's gratifying to see the books come out, but what's super odd is to get calls from the C suite of companies similarly situated. Wells Fargo is probably our biggest supporter right now, and historically it's been the Caterpillar, Ford, Kimberly Clark, whatever, but it's like a memo went out. Those guys are paying a level of attention. I mean, the BlackRock portfolio alone is talking about 400,000 electricians over that period, and they have no idea where to get them.
- [14:07]
C
Well, OpenAI. Just OpenAI has said that for the next five years, for them to complete their plans, to build out the data centers and the infrastructure needed for the AI plans, they by themselves could use a quarter of the nation's electricians, plumbers,
- [14:27]
A
H Vac by themselves, that's OpenAI plus Grok plus Anthropic plus Gemini plus three or four yet to be introduced. Players that'll probably wind up dominating the whole space. Right. Because it always happens that way. It's just very difficult to handicap the future. But it does seem clear, it does seem clear that the pinch point is going to be skilled labor.
- [14:55]
C
There's no question now healthcare is part of it too. There's a huge nursing shortage. And with our aging population, that's going to become even more of an issue. But as it relates to infrastructure and the nation's advancement, with regard to the AI job losses and the fact that if you want to find work in this country, your safest bet with regard to white collar versus blue collar is to choose that blue collar route because we need those workers. There's huge shortages. I think the best mathematical example that I have seen is there are 2.9 million vacancies across all the skilled trades annually. This was a light cast research fund.
- [15:37]
A
Oh, yeah, I know those guys. They're terrific.
- [15:39]
C
2.9 million vacancies. And the sum total of our training and education in this country produces 1.25 million each year.
- [15:50]
A
Yeah.
- [15:50]
C
People in those skilled trades professions. Which leaves a vacancy of 1.7 million vacancies. Every year it gets worse. And then in 2030, according to the department of education, it's going to be 2.1 million vacancies. That's the gap between what we're producing and what is needed. And they estimate that is a $1 trillion loss in economic output to the country because we just don't have enough workers to fill those jobs.
- [16:21]
A
In 2008, when I started my little adventure, the number that got me to pay attention, that I kept hearing from the light casts of the time, was five over two. Like, for every five who retire, two come in. Right. You know, and that at the time just seemed like that's an aging workforce. And it was. But there's now there's also this sort of population collapse thing that a lot of people are talking about. And of course, the stigmas and the stereotypes and the myths and the misperceptions that have bedeviled recruitment in this space for the last 40 years, that's the stuff where I feel like we can chip away a little. But I don't know what to say about the demography. I don't know what to say about that math.
- [17:05]
C
Yeah, it's very intimidating when you think about that 5 to 2 ratio retirements to new entrants into the field. That's hard to get around. What's even harder to get around is There is a 3% increase annually in people over the age of 65. There is a 0.2% decrease annually in people 18 or under. Yeah, yeah, the math doesn't work if that's the trajectory of the country.
- [17:33]
A
The math ain't math. What do you think would happen if we started treating high school kids who espoused to learn a trade like high school kids who aspire to play professional sports? Well, for starters, we'd have a lot more aspiring tradespeople. SkillsUSA understands this. That's why they're promoting the heck At a National signing day on May 6th in schools all over the country, thousands of high school kids will declare their vocation in much the same way gifted athletes declare the university they want to play for it. National Signing Day is a great way to celebrate the trades because it encourages and acknowledges the next generation of skilled workers by amplifying their decision to enroll in a trade school or an internship or an apprenticeship program. The day is May 6th, and I'm telling you this because nothing will close America's skills gap faster than elevating the jobs that desperately need to be filled. By celebrating the students who want to learn a skill that's genuinely in demand. SkillsUSA advisors and volunteers aren't just teaching a trade, they're launching careers and strengthening the backbone of our country. By mentoring the next generation of industry leaders, you could be among them. Join the skilled trades movement and support career and technical education through SkillsUSA. Volunteer at a local chapter or start a chapter in your own town. This movement is sweeping the country and you can be a part of it. Learn more@skillsusa.org Mike that's skillsusa.org Mike I'm talking skills us, skills us, skills usa. So how do you think about tech? Is tech going to save us from this by making us more effective, more efficient? Or are we going to be what is it foisted on our own petard or is it hoisted?
- [19:37]
C
Well, there's two things. There's AI, which everyone understands and talks about. We have a whole chapter in the book about that, but there's also robotics. And robotics is where, when you think about, well, AI is not going to touch the blue collar workers. That's where you Start thinking into the future. Well, maybe it can. And there's a company not far from here, Hadrian, have you heard they do robotic manufacturing for defense projects, for shipbuilding and defense contracting. And the CEO, you probably have met Chris Power.
- [20:14]
A
I know his name, yeah.
- [20:15]
C
He has said that even though his business is robotic manufacturing, he encourages children, parents to send their children into welding because there's just not enough welders in the country for all the projects. Even though his business model is. He has robotic welding. So that should say something.
- [20:36]
A
It does. You know, and there's a corollary, ironically, I think, in the liberal arts mindset and the humanities. Right. I mean, it's. There's not a lot you can do directly with the Socratic Aristotelian approach to education, but if you do study it and if you let it absorb you, it can inform, I think, in a positive way, everything that you do well in the trades. If you master welding early on. I can't tell you how many people who've gone through my foundation and who I've just met out in the world, you know, normally with cameras pointed at us, but they all tell a version of the same story. They picked up a torch when they were 17 or 18, and suddenly things started to make sense. And I think part of the problem that we have in this country, and I'd love to get your take on it, is in the same way we look at education as this monolithic thing, we do the same thing with work. It's like, oh, you're a welder, period. The end. Enjoy the next 40 years welding. But of course, it doesn't work like that at all. Welders become H Vac guys, and some of them become electricians, some of them become plumbers, and some of them open a mechanical contracting company and hire a couple dozen people. And so back to our earlier riff, you know, the idea of minimizing or marginalizing or demonizing those trades, it's just like pulling the bottom pieces out of a Jenga tower.
- [22:07]
C
You're twice as likely to own your own business if you pursue the trades rather than traditional higher education. The path to success is not just you're going to find work if you pursue the trades because of all the things we've just talked about.
- [22:23]
A
It'll find you.
- [22:24]
C
If you're entrepreneurial in mindset, you can be very successful running your own business.
- [22:29]
A
What about the other component? An entrepreneurial spirit, the mastery of a useful skill. And I didn't think this would ever become such a thing in our lifetime, but the willingness to go to where the work is. How do we get so sedentary as a, you know, as a people who populated a massive continent, the whole dream was built on moving.
- [22:58]
C
You know, this is actually a really interesting point. The biggest vacancies, the largest gap in supply of workers exists in the areas where the projects are ongoing. Texas, California, Arizona, Wyoming, the southeast Wyoming, Louisiana has two enormous projects. One of them is larger than Central park data center project. And Georgia, there's 180,000 shortage of workers in the trades just in Georgia and they're struggling to deal with it. And there's also a public movement now against data centers. People who don't want, you know, the NIMBY thing. Oh yeah, so you have that going on. But if you're a high wire lineman, like I told you, I live in Florida, right, where hurricanes happen occasionally. When the weather channel shows those hundreds lined up at the state line of trucks waiting to come in to save us when the electric goes down, we're grateful that they're willing to travel. I've heard you talk about the data centers in Texas and the electricians and how much money they can make, and that's largely because of overtime, the fact that there's so much work that's driven there. So if you are willing to travel to where in Arizona is, where the chip manufacturers are, if you're willing to travel to those areas, you can do very well for yourself. I just.
- [24:19]
A
In the same way we over promoted one form of education at the expense of all the others. It really seems like we've under promoted the very definition of what opportunity is is like when people say opportunity is dead, I think what they're saying is I've been all over the favorite parts of my zip code and I can't find the job that I was promised, the job that I've dreamt of my whole life. And I don't know how we got to that place either. But it does feel like so much of this is kind of in our control because it's perception. And your book, of course, is, I think, primarily written to change the way we think about work. Is that fair?
- [25:08]
C
We do a lot of things. We want to raise awareness of the issue and there's no shortage of people doing that. But we also want to talk about the statistics and talk about why you see such a vacancy. What can be done? We talk about what does workforce development look like now in the future, what, what are some innovative ideas? What can we do through policy to impact it, to get more people in it what's the role of getting more women into the trades? The impact of AI. We have an entire chapter talking about what it's like to go to a trade school. What does it mean? What's the experience like of going to a trade school and what happens and what do the different professions do if you choose that path? But I think the most gratifying part was we have an entire chapter, 10,000 words, which is a long chapter.
- [25:56]
A
That's a long chapter.
- [25:58]
C
It just skims the surface of all of the organizations and people that are working to make a difference. You mentioned BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase. I would put at the top of the list.
- [26:10]
A
They got one and a half trillion set aside for this.
- [26:12]
C
Yes. Yeah. And they have done research. Accenture, McKinsey, everybody.
- [26:17]
A
Deloitte, you know Jamie Dimon.
- [26:20]
C
I have. When I was in office, we talked because I served during the financial meltdown 2008.
- [26:26]
A
Congratulations. Yeah, that must have been exciting.
- [26:28]
C
I did get to speak with them then, but not since.
- [26:30]
A
Well, give my regards. I'm dying to meet him. We seem to be singing out of the same hymn book. And I do think that, you know, I mean, I don't think the government can save us from this, but they sure as heck have a role to play. And I don't think the billionaires can save us, but they sure as heck have a role to play. And it's really interesting now to see all these different verticals come together, somewhat grudgingly maybe, but they all got it, man. Whether it's the metaphorical memo I just mentioned or the book you've written, why the future Belongs to skilled trades and how career education is transforming the workforce. Sorry to free associate for a minute, but I didn't ask you. What exactly is the organization you're running right now?
- [27:16]
C
I lead the national association that represents private post secondary trade schools and career colleges. We're called Career Education Colleges and Universities. We have about 920 campuses across the US. All the trades you can think of, high wire linemen, underwater construction, everything in between. All the healthcare, nursing, medical assisting, cosmetology, culinary, personal service, business programs, it. All the things related to cybersecurity. Everything you can think of when you think of trades, that's who we represent.
- [27:54]
A
Where you been all my life, man?
- [27:56]
C
Yeah, we're kind of on the same path.
- [27:58]
A
I mean, what a kick. Cosmetology. You know my friend Win Claybourn?
- [28:05]
C
Yes, Good friend. Yeah.
- [28:06]
A
So you know, I had him on here a couple months ago. It's a completely random meeting. Did you catch that episode?
- [28:14]
C
I did. Oh, how could I not? The first thing he did was send it to me and say, hey, tell me what you think. And if you don't, really, if you don't tell him what you think, you're gonna hear back.
- [28:23]
A
You will hear back.
- [28:24]
C
It's not one of those things you can set aside.
- [28:26]
A
Look, man, he is a jagged little pill, that guy. I hope he's listening to this. Cause he's hitting me up now to speak at their thing. And I'd love to do it, but you know, I'm only riffing on it because I started this effort not with the idea that part of what our country was suffering from was a citizenry plagued by bad haircuts. Right, right. I'm not focused on that. But the number of people who are feeding their families, raising their kids and making a decent living in cosmetology is amazing. So they're like our third biggest category now. And so, you know, you can learn a lot by accident from a quirky little bald guy who puts the arm on you and asks for the sale. Which win Clay Ball will do. He's running Paul Mitchell schools, right?
- [29:17]
C
Correct. Yes, they have. I believe it's about 95 schools across the country. Cosmetology schools, excellent schools. I've visited a number of them. I visited over 200 trade schools myself just across the country.
- [29:29]
A
So in your estimation, what are the myths and the primary misperceptions held by the citizenry that have made it difficult for trade schools to recruit more effectively?
- [29:46]
C
I think I would put at the top of the list. These are generally non traditional students, people who've tried something else, maybe tried community college first, traditional college, didn't work out, maybe skipped higher ed in the beginning, downsized, looking for something else, gone through divorce. Something in their life has moved them to change direction. And for some of them, many of them, this is not a second chance, this is a last chance. So when you think about the student, we have a whole section of the book talking about Gen Z and the need and to get women into the profession. And a lot of those are non traditional women. But when you think about people pursuing the trades as a career, it's not just right out of high school. It's often people changing careers. So I think that is a big misperception. And then the other would be the sustainable family sustaining wage and the living that you can make in those professions. I don't think people understand that.
- [30:47]
A
I was really surprised. This has probably been 11 years ago now. I shared an article in the Journal, I think it was called the Six Figure Welder. And it was the first time I had seen that in headlines. But I'd met hundreds of people doing real well welding, and I shared that and anecdotally talked about what I had seen out in the world. And the pushback was extraordinary. Like real skepticism adjacent to real anger. How dare you even suggest such a thing? My kid right now is trying to figure out which college to go to, and he's gonna read this kind of thing and God knows what's gonna happen to him. I mean, real fear. That's when I realized, you know what? It's not just a question of people not quite understanding what the opportunities truly look like. That kind of bias is seen as a clear and present threat to whatever it is you think you want for your kids. And it does not go over well. Do do do do do do do do do do Good ranchers does a great job of delicious American raised meat. But you know who's even better at building the ideal box of perfectly selected cuts of the very best meat your money can buy? You are. That's why Good Ranchers allows their customers to choose the exact contents of every box. Chicken, beef, pork, seafood, you name it, Good Ranchers has it. And now you can select precisely what you want every time, in whatever quantity suits you. But you know what you can't do? You can't select imported meat from Good ranchers. Sorry, if you want that option, you'll have to go elsewhere. Because Good ranchers is committed to local farmers and local ranchers. That's their whole thesis. That's why they exist. And that's why I switched to Good ranchers. Guaranteed USA grown meat, pasture raised, no antibiotics, no added hormones. Also, when you start your plan, you'll get to choose a free meat that'll be included with every order at no additional cost. And with Code Mike, you get 25 bucks off your first order. That's free meat with every order and $25 off your first order with Code Mike. When you start your plan on goodranchers.com go there today. Goodranchers.com for American meat delivered. If you could eat a steer, if you could eat a cow, don't take a chance on a foreign ranch. Get Good Ranchers now.
- [33:26]
C
Well, it's interesting. So part of it is about what you want for your own kids. And there was a great survey that was taken where something like 94% of parents said the trades were a good route for somebody else's kid. But only 30% or so said it was a good route for their own kid. Yeah.
- [33:43]
A
Cross out kid and write in data center.
- [33:45]
C
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- [33:46]
A
It was the same thing.
- [33:47]
C
Yeah. Well, you know, one of the things we hear all the time, if you go to a graduation ceremony, I presume you've probably spoken at higher ed ceremonies. I have to. And when you're there, it is inspiring to see the faces of the students go through. And if you're at a traditional higher ed, it's generally college age young adults that you're seeing across the stage. And you'll hear from the crowd, people yell, that's my girl, that's my boy. And they're proud. And that's great.
- [34:15]
A
Sure.
- [34:16]
C
But if you come to one of our graduation ceremonies at our trade schools, you'll hear that's my mom, that's my dad.
- [34:23]
A
Wow.
- [34:24]
C
Because. And the family.
- [34:26]
A
Such a good point. I'm gonna steal that.
- [34:29]
C
Please do. And it's raucous. And you see the joy. These are people first in their family to do any kind of higher education credential. It's a huge achievement. And they did it with three kids while working a part time job. That's very different than the traditional college experience.
- [34:46]
A
You know, I mean, it's right in front of me. The majority of people we assist are out of high school and looking. But the best stories are the ones you're talking about. We featured a woman, Tracy Wilson, and a number of ads for Microworks. And she was cleaning houses seven years ago, single mom raising two kids. And she just had it. She wanted to do over. She's doing the electronics on fighter jets today.
- [35:20]
C
Wow.
- [35:20]
A
And so this other message to the country, to quote Robert Plant at the very end of Stairway to Heaven, you know, there's still time to change the road you're on. Yes, there's still time. And I think a lot of people don't believe that. And I think showing them examples exactly as you're describing that, I love that. That's my dad up there reinventing himself right in front of me. I mean.
- [35:48]
C
And the whole family cheers. And the opposite of that, that's just as impactful when you observe it, are the people for whom nobody cheers because they're by themselves. Yeah. They did it alone and now they're improving their lives.
- [36:03]
A
Wow.
- [36:04]
C
That's incredible.
- [36:05]
A
That makes me want to applaud. Yeah. I mean that, that is the. This word dignity. It's such a. It's a politician's word, you know, and it's an ad man's word because it's just so loaded and rich. But when it's not being used for cheap, manipulative purposes, it is real, you know, and it's almost always quiet, as you've described. And part of what makes it poignant is there's. There is no crowd celebrating. There's nobody marching on your behalf. It's just you and sort of the. Oh, I don't know. Satisfaction is probably the wrong word, but it is deeply satisfying to master a skill, whatever it is, and there's real dignity in doing that. And that. That, to me, feels like the province of trade schools, more so than any other.
- [37:00]
C
I always. I assume you're the same way because you're so passionate about it. But when I. When I speak at these tours that I do, they'll sometimes bring the students together and in their hard hats. And I always say, you know, I'm jealous that you guys get to do this. This is really a cool thing. You get to work with your hands. I've never been, you know, like that, but you get to work with your hands, and you get to do meaningful work every day. You can see the product of your labor. That's just awesome. And you're pursuing your dreams.
- [37:32]
A
Why? I'm asking you a question I know the answer to, but why is it awesome? Why are men like you and I enamored of that to this degree?
- [37:44]
C
In part because I am the prototypical. Call the guy.
- [37:49]
A
I got a guy for that.
- [37:50]
C
Right? Yeah. You know, oh, the filter doesn't work in the refrigerator. What should we do? I don't know. Call the guy. You know, I just. Whatever. That's always been me. So the fact that there are people out there who are able to do that, and we talked about the linemen coming in after hurricanes and all the infrastructure that's being built. I mean, we need these people. And every day they go home from work and they know they made a difference. They can see the progress that was made. And there's just something inspiring about that.
- [38:19]
A
Dirty Jobs was hard. It was a hard show to host, even though technically I was more like a guest. And part of what kept me coming back year after year after year after year after year after year, was to bear witness to that mix of talent, skill, and enthusiasm. Enthusiasm. Greek word, forget what its etymology. But this guy, Barton Swaim, who I'm asking you to reach out to, he's a terrific writer. He had a piece in the Journal last week called I Think We've Lost the Will to Work. And prior to that, a couple years Ago, he wrote an article called the War on Work. And in it he talks about these areas that are ascendant and aspirational today, and they include consultancies and advocacies and nonprofits and the like. And he says the interesting thing about all those categories is that the work doesn't benefit anyone directly except the worker. That's the whole point. Every job. And I'm forgetting the fourth category, but the categories you're talking about are the exact opposite. When he changes the filter in your refrigerator that benefits you. Now, he'll be paid for it, and as will the linemen. But the business of having a vocation that primarily benefits somebody other than you, it's kind of Calvinist, you know, it's kind of a work ethic y kind of thing. But it's a big part of the equation and it's missing from a lot of lives.
- [40:04]
C
And I would absolutely put nursing and the healthcare service professions in that, too.
- [40:09]
A
Your chapter, if I remember right, yeah, really made a point that I want to talk about. I've seen this. It's. Is it really a shortage of nurses or is it a shortage of faculty? And is the credentialing system just so hopelessly jacked up? We're in our own way.
- [40:31]
C
There is a shortage of nursing. Huge shortage, 190,000 vacancies right now, as we speak in the country, 10% of the nursing workforce, those jobs are unfilled. So that exists. The faculty shortage is a cause of that vacancy. It's one of the causes. And there's a lot of reasons for that capacity, right? The ability to host and have the technology to bring in new students, and then the ability to pay for and attract the. The faculty to instruct them. And then if you're a nurse, if you want to be nurse faculty, you have to be a nurse. And an advanced nurse, you can make a lot more money and have more flexibility and better career trajectory if you're practicing nursing rather than if you're in faculty. In Most cases, about 120,000 average as a practicing nurse income, 90,000 if you're faculty. So finding a way to attract people to go into more faculty. But there is an issue right here in California, for example, UC Irvine and UCLA combined in 2023 to receive 12,000 qualified nursing applicants. And they accepted 120 of them because of capacity.
- [41:55]
A
Oh, my God.
- [41:56]
C
There's a 74% vacancy need of nurses in California. So when you. Or the acceptance rate, 74% are denied qualified applicants. So when you think about the need that exists. And the fact that we have qualified applicants, but we don't have the capacity to train them, that is a huge problem. And then in California and other states, they discourage private and for profit nursing schools from expanding because they have the ability to do that. They have the resources, they have an innovative mindset. They're able to expand. And often these nursing boards, it's a big problem in California, will deny them their application to expand capacity or limit their enrollment. And that. That just doesn't make any sense if you're trying to solve the problem.
- [42:51]
A
Kibono. I mean, who benefits? It sounds like the bottom part of the funnel is clogged. You've got people who are willing. All those people applying, why aren't they qualified? It just feels like we're standing on our own wiener.
- [43:09]
C
They are qualified, but there's no. The capacity isn't there? Except for the private and for profit schools that have the ability to increase capacity and have applied to be able to do so. And then it gets denied.
- [43:25]
A
Applied to whom? The state.
- [43:26]
C
The State Board of Nursing.
- [43:28]
A
And the State Board of Nursing is fully aware of the shortage that currently exists.
- [43:32]
C
Yes.
- [43:33]
A
And they understand that they have the capacity to ameliorate the problem. They're not.
- [43:39]
C
Correct? Yeah, we go over this in our chapter on the nursing shortage. But that is the issue and that's a political issue. Nursing unions are a part of the issue. Right. So increased supply is not always something that the unions are happy about. Right.
- [43:54]
A
Careful, Congressman.
- [43:55]
C
Too careful.
- [43:56]
A
I know you hear that cracking sound, right? That's the ice under you.
- [43:59]
C
Of course.
- [44:00]
A
You're not running for anything anymore.
- [44:01]
C
That's right.
- [44:02]
A
But look, since you brought it up, I mean, it feels like I get. I don't even care anymore. I used to try really hard to stay out of the middle of labor and management, but it's inevitable. You know that I. It's not called micro labor, it's called micro works. Work is different than labor.
- [44:22]
C
Right.
- [44:23]
A
Works for everybody. I fully respect the right of people to join a union and I understand the need to negotiate shrewdly and effectively with your fricking boss. I got it. But nothing we're talking about is at that level. And so I find myself constantly, not quite in hot water, but sometimes saying things that disappoint the rank and file because I think they expect a level of rubber stampish solidarity from the likes of me. And I can't always provide it because I feel like the nursing union and the teachers union and the SEIU and the Rodbusters and the steel workers, they're different, you know. Do you see it that way as a guy that used to have a D in front of his name?
- [45:16]
C
Well, a guy that had a D by my name in Pittsburgh.
- [45:20]
A
Right.
- [45:20]
C
You want to talk about the steel workers union and others. So, yes, I mean, I did over time come to have a disagreement about a lot of those issues. And as it relates to the workforce issues, I do think it's worth thinking about. Why are the high growth areas in the country Florida, the southeast, Georgia, North Carolina, on over to Texas, Arizona, Utah. Then you look at where the unions have the heaviest presence. Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, even California, which is going to lose up to four congressional seats in the next reapportionment because people are fleeing the state. Is there a connection there? I think people might want to think about that.
- [46:12]
A
So the Microworks foundation has set aside $10 million this year to help train the next generation of skilled workers. And I'd like to encourage you to go get some of that money or let people know that the money is there. I know I talk about this a lot on the podcast and all over the place, but the headlines really have caught up with America's widening skills gap. Everybody is paying attention right now. And my foundation has been made relevant in ways that, frankly, I never imagined. So we're setting aside a big chunk of money. There are hundreds of thousands of open positions right now in this country that don't require a four year degree. They require training. That's what Microworks does. Apply for a work ethics scholarship. Today, you gotta jump through some hoops, you know, you gotta make a case for yourself. But the application isn't that complicated. It's right there@microworks.org go fill it out. $10 million waiting to help train the next generation of electricians and plumbers and H Vac techs and welders and shipbuilders and linemen. The list goes on. The Money is there. Microworks.org, apply today. Good luck.
- [47:24]
C
Right.
- [47:24]
A
I think maybe they will not try
- [47:26]
C
to generate controversy, but.
- [47:28]
A
Well, look, it is a fact, as I say often on this show, you know, sometimes things just have to go splat before they get better. And I don't want to see it go splat. I don't even know what go splat means. I mean, a few miles from where you're sitting, you know, the Palisades burned a year ago. That sure looked like a splat to me. And yet, what, 14 months later, we get four permits issued, you know, Now I'm not saying the unions have anything to do with that or not. I don't know. I don't think so, but it's awkward. You know, I met the guy who runs the electrical union for the whole country the same week I met three electricians in Plano in that data center you mentioned. All making 240 to 280 a year, all under 30, all with no debt, all with as much overtime as they want. The guys can basically set their own schedule. The thing I didn't mention was that all three of them had been poached three times in the prior 18 months. Now what am I going to say to the head of that union who represents members who are enjoying making a quarter million dollars a year and setting their own schedule? To your point, the shortage benefits the constituency. Keeping the pipeline full is important, but not too full. Maybe that's it.
- [48:53]
C
That's exactly it.
- [48:54]
A
Let's not get carried away, fellas. You know, I'm sorry you have to wait three days for Frank to fix your toilet. But you know, life is hard. So it's difficult to paint. It's easy to paint with too broad a brush, you know. How the hell did you stay in politics for as long as you did?
- [49:11]
C
Well, the unions do great work with regard to apprenticeships.
- [49:15]
A
Yes.
- [49:16]
C
And training and quality and craftsmanship.
- [49:20]
A
Yes.
- [49:20]
C
That is indisputable. The issue becomes their view of competition from non union labor.
- [49:27]
A
Right.
- [49:28]
C
And their discouraging of whether it be nurses or the trades, whatever it might be. That's not helpful. But the unions do their part with regard to supplying very high quality workers into the workforce.
- [49:42]
A
Of course, of course. I only make the point because it is very difficult to say a thing that's going to make everybody nod their heads at the same time with equal enthusiasm.
- [49:56]
C
Yeah. But the nursing shortage, that is definitely an issue where that comes into play.
- [50:02]
A
So what do you think of this? I was in Oklahoma about a year ago, little town called Drumbeat, like in the middle of the middle. And one of the best tech schools I've ever seen was there. It was called Central Tech. And around two in the afternoon I was there for the energy guys. They have an amazing welding program. And Continental and a couple other big employers in Oklahoma rely on them heavily. And around 2:30 in the afternoon, 18 buses come in from all the surrounding schools that used to have shop class but don't anymore.
- [50:40]
C
Right.
- [50:41]
A
So all the kids come there. It was amazing to see them all just jump into these different vocations and get busy learning. But during Lunch. I walked down to the far end where they had a nursing wing and they were on their break and there were 15 women standing around, a couple of guys and their instructors. And I said, so how's it going? It's great. It's a two year program, I guess. And the instructor said, well, could be, you know, Carolyn here is gonna do it in two, you know, Fran is gonna do it in more like 18 months, Charlotte, more like a year. You know, Jennifer. Three. Point is there was no term at all. They got the memo on the nursing shortage and their whole approach to it is the minute you're qualified, you're hired, you're out there. Why isn't that happening everywhere?
- [51:37]
C
It's a big issue when you talk about solutions. And one of the most often mentioned solutions is that very issue going to a competency based graduation program completion versus an arbitrary number of hours of program length.
- [51:53]
A
What justifies the credential? Is it competency? Is it time?
- [51:58]
C
Well, I would argue competency is the end goal there. And when you think of apprenticeships, for example, example, you need 144 hours of educational credits and you need 2000 hours of on the job training. And there's a big movement to look at. Exactly. The issue that you said is when those people are ready to complete the apprenticeship and get out into the workforce, they're ready. And it doesn't benefit anybody, not the student, not the school, not the society to keep that person behind. So those nursing students that you're talking about, when there's 190,000 shortage of nurses in the country, I think get them out into the workforce.
- [52:42]
A
There was an expression in your book, I wrote it down here somewhere. Opportunity pluralism. Yeah, yeah. What is that?
- [52:52]
C
That means that everyone should have equal opportunity to pursue their career of their choice. And in that chapter we talk about the issues related to why people have been dissuaded from going into the trades. Why it's been that college for all mentality, what we talked about at the beginning. So opportunity pluralism, that entire chapter talks about why that has been the case and why we need to move on and go in a different direction.
- [53:21]
A
So you were in elected office when the college for all really became a trope. How did you process it? What did you say to your, your fellow Democrats when it started to take hold?
- [53:37]
C
I don't know that I. In fact, I could say with certainty I didn't know. These issues that we're talking about now, I hadn't thought of it in that way with regard to the Trades. I did see an ideological bias generally on the Democratic side against the private and for profit trade schools. And I was someone that opposed that as a Democrat, which led to my career, the way that it worked out.
- [54:01]
A
But going up in flames, you mean.
- [54:03]
C
That's the political career. But the career I currently have was. Because while I was in office, that was something that I had worked on.
- [54:11]
A
Right?
- [54:12]
B
Yeah.
- [54:12]
A
I mean it's a. Yeah, yeah, man. I, I'm often offered to kick the political tires.
- [54:25]
C
I see you do it. I see your post every once in a while you dabble in the issues.
- [54:29]
A
Well, the thing is, in a world where if I'm going to talk about education and labor, which I kind of feel like I have permission to do vis a vis the foundation, that's okay. When I get in trouble is when I veer out of my lane into some, you know, adjacent thing. But I, I don't know that there are lanes anymore. And I'm not sure. I mean, I do agree with you. I still think this is one of the very, very few issues that is inherently nonpartisan and I think a lot of people have worked really hard to change that. Shame on them, you know, but how would you advise your, your counterparts today, you know, when you, Are you still in touch with Congress folk?
- [55:18]
C
Yeah, we have text chains that I'm on, people. I was a member of the Conservative Democrat coalition, the Blue Dog Coalition, and there's a text chain that exists and my election class, class of 2006, there's a text chain and then people that are in office and out of office that I served with. So yeah, we keep in touch. And I find two things as it relates to this. I find much greater understanding of the issues, but I do still see an ideological bias favoring the public sector against private and for profit schools.
- [55:57]
A
Who do you admire in office today? Who's getting it right? What sort of ideas resonate with you?
- [56:05]
C
I think, I mean, I'm nonpartisan. I work with both sides. We reference in the book Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona. I served with his wife Gabby Giffords, very good friends. And I think he's going in the right direction as it relates to AI and looking at some of the challenges, both the politics of it. We talked about the data centers and navigating that. And he's somebody who has higher aspirations. But also in Arizona, they need those workers. They are the prototypical state with the job shortages. So I think he's someone that is definitely going in the right direction.
- [56:41]
A
What do you think about companies who appear unable to wait either for the government or for trade schools to expand. You know, I was talking to Jim Farley over at Ford the other day. The only way I dropped that name, Chuck, just.
- [56:58]
B
That's pretty good. Smooth.
- [56:59]
C
Yeah.
- [57:00]
A
Another CEO that calls me now and then I think he's going to build trade schools within Ford. I don't think you can wait. I don't think you can wait for UTI or Lincoln Tech or whatever. It's. I mean, I'm big fans of both of those. But what's going to happen? Like Home Depot has a giant initiative now. Lowe's just announced a $250 million in house training program. FedEx is training truck drivers. UPS probably will too. So how do you think about that as a kind of, I don't know, stopgap?
- [57:34]
C
I think about it all the time and we're speaking the same language. I have this conversation with our members. Our members are the trade schools. So we have our board of directors and then we have our larger membership. And I talk about that very issue. The competition in the past has always been community colleges, the regulatory environment, you know, fighting those fights that we just talked about. That's not where the competition is going to be in the future. High schools now, they're not creating the old shop classes that we remember from when we were young. They're in, I talk in the book. In White Plains, New York, they had 75 acres that they redeveloped to build a trade school. And now they're funneling students through there. In Massachusetts, there are thousands of students on the waiting list to go through their vocational ed programs. Father Judge High School in Philadelphia has a welding program that graduates about 25 students a year that go directly into the workforce. As welders. They don't need to go to trade schools because they finished it in high schools. Companies are forming. They're saying, let's just eliminate the middleman. We'll do the training ourselves.
- [58:46]
A
If you were Jensen Wong, you were running a $4 trillion company. You're not gonna wait.
- [58:52]
C
Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart, Ford.
- [58:54]
A
Yeah, you're not gonna wait.
- [58:56]
C
They're all doing it. And then you have innovative entrepreneurial folks who can see the stuff that you and I see, which is the need and the trajectory of the issue, who want to start training, becoming training providers. And the community colleges, you know, who I think had been fairly criticized as being a little slow to react to some things and maybe being part of the problem of funneling people into careers or degrees that, that weren't necessarily going to Pan out. They are now refocused on this and they're getting a ton of funding, both from private philanthropy and the government. And now they're getting their act together in a way that is very good for the country. But if you're just sitting back thinking that this is all going to flow through trade schools now, you're not going to fare very well.
- [59:42]
A
I don't think so. And I'd be nervous if I was running a trade school. And again, I'm a big fan. But. But the economies of scale are what they are and UTI charges what they charge and they will turn out a very qualified diesel mechanic. But if you're desperate to hire a very qualified diesel mechanic and you have the means to train them internally, why wouldn't you? At what point do you just start to do that? I really wonder. And I suppose the same thing could happen in the university system as well. I mean, if you've got an Internet connection and an iPhone, I mean, you've got access to 98% of all the known information in the world. There's your Stoics, there's your Aristotelian humanities
- [60:28]
C
degree, it's in your hand, at your fingertips.
- [60:30]
A
Free lectures from mit, you can. Right. So, I mean, that's where I am optimistic about the tech and the AI. I think once we put sides on it, the genuinely curious cat is just. It's already happening, you know, you can see I'm not talking about just scrolling on reels. I'm talking about, you know, getting into something, you know, more substantive than cat videos and large people falling down.
- [60:57]
C
You know, dance videos.
- [60:59]
A
Right, yeah. Which, you know, are fine.
- [61:01]
C
Yeah. We have a whole section in the book about trade schools, as I talked about. And if you're innovative and so many of them are, and you're thinking, and you have a forward vision, you're going to do very well. But my point was that if you are not of that mindset and you're kind of, let's keep doing it the way we've always done it, that's not going to work out, whether you're a trade school, community college, whatever it might be. I think one of the things that gives me the most hope, optimism, we talk about women in the trades. Less than 5% of people in the skilled trades are women currently. If you look at welding, Instagram, the top 50 welding accounts, top 50 Instagram accounts that focus on welding, 32 of them of the 50, are run by women influencers.
- [61:51]
A
That's amazing.
- [61:52]
C
Yeah, because they're getting into It. And there's an interest and I have seen that. I. I've been in this role for six years now, traveling the country, and I've seen a difference. I see more women on the shop floor when I travel around.
- [62:04]
A
Well, I mentioned Tracy Wilson, but there's a long list of women. I didn't go looking for them. That's the interesting thing. We're a big tent. But they came. And the welders in particular, their stories are incredible. I guess maybe it's still dominated obviously by men, but the success stories of women, tig welding in particular, you know, precise for almost a kind of surgery, you know, and the irony of using TikTok or Instagram. Yeah. You know, to tell that story and ultimately wind up making a more persuasive case for the very vocation than the trade schools themselves.
- [62:44]
C
And you know, the funny thing, 100% of the time when I go into a school and I see that there's some women there, maybe more than had been in the past, I'll say, how do they do in the program every time? Oh, they're our best students.
- [62:58]
A
Yeah.
- [62:59]
C
And the reason is because if you're a woman and you go into that environment, you go into a welding class, you go into an electrician program, you do it because you have a passion for it and you're good at it, but you also want to show your peers, you want to take it seriously. And this is my thing, and I'm going to do the best I possibly can. And if you're a guy, you just have a different mindset. You're going to do okay. But those women are solely focused on outshining everybody around them, and they do really well. And then they get out into the workforce and they kill it.
- [63:32]
A
Yeah.
- [63:33]
C
Because they're. They did so well in school.
- [63:35]
A
So how do you explain that? Like, what do you account is it. I remember Larry Ellison said somebody asked him, you know, sum it up, man, how'd you do it? Like, really, how'd you do it? And he's like, well, growing up, I had just the right amount of adversity, you know, to be challenged. You know, I think that's a really important thing. And I know that's Chloe Hudson. She was one of our first. First recipients.
- [64:02]
C
We talk about her in the book.
- [64:04]
A
Chloe specifically. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [64:08]
B
You must have missed that part when you read it.
- [64:09]
A
My lawyers will be in touch. That's great now. Yeah. I did a full. I skimmed through the PDF. I missed Chloe Hudson, but she's like our rock star. She was going to be a plastic surgeon and decided, you know, $400,000 in debt freaked her out.
- [64:28]
C
She's become a rock star.
- [64:29]
A
Yeah.
- [64:30]
B
I just saw her two Saturdays ago in Pomona at the drag races. Yeah. Because she does social media for Tony Stewart. Tony's wife, Ms. Stewart. No, her name's Laura.
- [64:43]
A
No one cares.
- [64:44]
B
She's a wizard.
- [64:45]
A
Nobody cares.
- [64:45]
B
And Matt Hagan and Matt care about Matt. Funny car.
- [64:50]
C
So, you know, where we met her was in Atlanta. And if you haven't gone to the SkillsUSA conference in Atlanta, I was there last year. Yeah. Okay. So we were too. And that's where we met her. That is an unbelievable setting. And she. They have. I forget that 14,000, some incredible number of high school students that come in and they are products of a nationwide progressive competition in their trades. And this is the finals. And then there's all these employers that are there and they often hire on the spot and there's job interviews and everybody's nervous. And Chloe was there. And what amazed me in that environment, everybody knew who she was. Yeah. They were coming up, they were taking pictures with her.
- [65:35]
A
Yeah.
- [65:35]
C
It was just incredible.
- [65:37]
A
Yeah, I. I've said out loud and I'll. I'll say it again, I think SkillsUSA is the most consequential youth based movement in the country today. And I say that as a. As an Eagle Scout. With all due respect to the Boy Scouts and Future Farmers of America and the 4H Club, what SkillsUSA is doing is essentially truly filling the gap that was left when trade schools vanished. High school. And you're right, you know, to see all state walk down on the competition floor and hire a kid for 92 grand straight out of high school right there. That. I mean, I got frustrated with them because I was like, what? How If I put 100 people in a room, show of hands. Who's heard of the Boy Scouts? Every hand goes up. Who's heard of the 4H Club? Most hands people still don't understand what SkillsUSA is. There are 480,000 members now. They're trying to get to a million in five years. I do what I can to help. I'm glad you brought them up because I think they're a piece of the puzzle. In the same way private companies and public companies are going to be a piece of it. Do you know what Palantir is doing? Are you following any of that?
- [66:55]
C
Yeah. At the World Economic Forum, he was speaking about that very issue that you were saying. This is the largest infrastructure movement in the history of the world.
- [67:06]
A
Yeah.
- [67:07]
C
I think the number he threw out was $75 trillion worldwide.
- [67:12]
A
Yeah.
- [67:12]
C
Of infrastructure that's going to be built. And again, we just don't have the workers in the world to do this.
- [67:19]
A
Well, he's, you know, he's taking kids right out of high school. I think he took like 30 and put him on these big engineering projects, big consequential hands on projects. But at the same time he's doing something internally with the Western civ thing. They're getting exposed to a liberal arts degree while they're learning a useful skill. And in two years these kids are going to be making 300 grand and they're going to be able to talk intelligently about Nietzsche and Kierkegaard.
- [67:50]
C
It's another thing you're going to see, we were talking about the competition that's existing is there is a movement for trade programs to be implemented in traditional higher education, sometimes with residential going along with that. So you'll have the trade students and the traditional students walking together on the campus. Green.
- [68:10]
A
Well, that, you know, optics matter. That's. So back to your earlier point with the graduations and the, and the color of collars, which I think is going to end. And I hope the same thing happens in politics. You know, it's blue and red and with the workforce it's blue and white obviously, but it just, it really just feels like we're gonna have to just jam everybody together and smear it all up.
- [68:35]
C
AI is forcing us to do that as a society. And when you look at the fact I think it's 85% of jobs are going to have 50% or more of their tasks become obsolete because of AI.
- [68:53]
A
Right.
- [68:54]
C
Think about that.
- [68:55]
B
I am.
- [68:55]
C
You need to be really good at the other 50% if you want to survive.
- [69:00]
A
Listen up, Chuck.
- [69:01]
C
It doesn't mean you lose your job, it just means your job changes. And if AI can't do those tasks, at least not yet, that makes them really valuable and that makes you really marketable. And that's what our education system has to train and educate people and point us towards rather than just doing it the way we've always done it.
- [69:23]
A
Interesting. You know, I feel like not to pick on the Ivies, but I'll just say I feel like higher ed has ignored the fact that much of what they impart is now available for free online to anyone with Internet connection. Right. I don't want to see the other half of the workforce make the same mistake with AI simply because in the near term you're going to be the prettiest girl at the dance, right? Great. But don't stick your head in the sand. Figure this tool out. Figure it out. I don't care what you think really, about data centers. You know, 2/3 of the country has a negative reaction to them. But we're in the fight of our life. We're in the race of our life. The stakes are high, man. And China is involved in this thing in a big way. We don't have to like it, but we can't just sit down and go, no, I'm not going to run in this thing. You're running, you might as well win.
- [70:23]
C
We talk in the book about the people who used to put out the lights before electricity came along. It was their job to turn them on and turn them off. Gas and then candles before. And eventually those jobs went away. All of the infrastructure related to the horse driven carriage.
- [70:42]
A
Bye bye buggy whips.
- [70:43]
C
Yeah. And then cars come along. This is not the first time there's been a monumental shift in technology that has changed the workforce in America or the world. It's how we adapt. And we use the Sputnik as an example. 1957. So when the Russians beat us to the satellite orbiting the Earth, that was a wake up call for America. And President Eisenhower and the Congress worked together and they fundamentally changed the way we funded higher education and what our national priorities were to catch up and exceed. And of course that was 1957, 1969, we land a man on the moon because we funded math and science and changed our education. That's the moment we're in right now. We are in the Sputnik moment of our time. And how we react as policymakers, as philanthropies and foundations and businesses and trade schools and everyone in this ecosystem is going to determine whether or not we are going to be competitive with the rest of the world, because China's going to figure it out. The issue is, are we going to be able to fill those workforce shortages, to build and continue to advance in a way, in the same way that in 1957 we responded to Sputnik.
- [72:06]
A
What do you think? Are we up for it?
- [72:08]
C
The math is daunting. I mean, it's almost impossible when you think about it. We're losing the young population. I told you about the losing 2% in high school. We topped out 20, 25 high school population in the country. So from now until 2041, we decrease the number of people who are in high school. There's 15% fewer kindergarteners today than There are high school seniors and that number gets worse every year through 2041. So there's that. I do think moving women into the trades and getting them excited and interested is going to make a difference. Getting people generally interested in it. The work that you and so many others are doing to promote and take away the stigma that used to be associated with the trades, that is all making a big difference. But it is hard to get around having one and a half million fewer people entering the workforce than there are jobs available.
- [73:07]
A
Yeah. The math ain't math. And I should probably ask you for some advice before I let you go, too. I've been to the Pentagon a couple times. Right. And you know, for what it's worth, I. I offered my foundation and my own services to President Obama in 2009 when the 3 million shovel ready jobs thing, you know, the argument was simple. You're going to have a much easier time selling those jobs to people that feel great about picking up a shovel, you know?
- [73:39]
C
Right.
- [73:40]
A
Like we need some sort of national effort to reinvigorate the trades. I've been to Congress, I've told that story a bunch of. I don't know if it's this administration or just this time we happen to be living in, but there's interest now because our government, it's not just private industry that's freaking out, it's our submarine makers. You mentioned ships. There's so many great jobs you mentioned. Is it Hadrian Halder?
- [74:07]
C
Yeah, yeah. They're in Torrance. Right up the road. Yeah.
- [74:10]
A
I mean the big five, Lockheed, Raytheon, Thiokol, you know, obviously Palantir and Enderal. So they've got so many great stories to tell and I think the government is down with shining a light on those. I'm game to do it. Am I going to regret it?
- [74:27]
C
No. There's a few things they're doing better. The Skillbridge program, which in the last six months before you leave the service, they allow you to go into the private sector, is a lot better now at allowing folks that explore trade careers that is so. Than they were before.
- [74:43]
A
Riff on that a minute. That's basically reverse boot camp.
- [74:46]
C
Yeah. So there is a recognition that the transition, I think it's 200,000 men and women per year, leave the military transition from that to civilian life. And if you don't assist with that transition professionally, they're going to struggle to find work. So for the last six months, you're able to go and explore your job opportunities, work on site, and then hopefully once you leave. To be able to transition into that career and to be able to do that with the trades is really important. And we have a whole section in the book about the transition of veterans and how it just fits. You know, they're looking for, especially folks that have been in, you know, overseas and been in battle. And so they want excitement and they just have a different mental disposition than most folks do. And when you get on a construction site, that kind of fits with what they want out of life and what they're used to doing. So I think encouraging that rather than discouraging it, which I think may have been happening before, I think that's better for them, but it's also better for
- [75:52]
A
the country, I think. Yeah, it's a big part of it. Do you know workshop workshops for warriors down in San Diego. Taylor, what was his name? H. Hernan. Yeah, he's. I mean, this guy was a medic and just decided to pivot and he basically has taught, I mean, a couple thousand, mostly Navy, how to, how to weld and gotten them jobs. It's just, it's just another one of those little thousand points of light that really ought to be amplified.
- [76:27]
C
It's just because they have that. Well, it's not only because, but they have the base there. It's one of the reasons. But San Diego is a hotbed of innovative thinking. The Prebys foundation and the San Diego foundation both prioritize workforce development. It's a huge issue because they're a fast growing lot of development there. I would put San Diego with Georgia and Arizona and some of the best states with regard to the collaboration of employers and trade schools and funders. When you have the brightest minds in the deepest pockets all pulling in the same direction, it makes a big difference.
- [77:01]
A
Well, and clarity of purpose, I tend to look for the silver linings and, you know, all the conflict that's going on, all the uncertainty in the world, it does have a way of sharpening one's focus with regard to stakes.
- [77:16]
C
And if you look at the GI Bill and how veterans use the gi, but they still huge, disproportionately use it towards traditional higher education, I know, rather than going into the trade. So I think that having an effort, you know, it's not necessarily for everybody, not saying everybody has to do it, but there should be more of an appreciation among folks who are helping advise people on maybe what their next step in their career could be to if they're going to use GI Bill benefits, maybe think about the trades.
- [77:47]
A
You know, I'm really encouraged, actually. When I think about all the different things private industry is doing in their own verticals to address this. When I think of all the different foundations that are out there, you know, I'll take a little credit maybe for being a little early, but man, they're like. The Marine Corps Scholarship fund is doing amazing work for sons and daughters of Marines. Folds of honor. I think they've done $270 million in scholarships. But to your point, we're partnering with them this year because they want a big chunk of that cohort to kick the tires on the trades and they don't know how to get them to do that. It's, it's. We've just got to meet them where they are somehow. But it, it seems possible.
- [78:37]
C
Yeah, there's a heroes to hard hats program.
- [78:40]
A
Yep. You've probably. Helmets to hard hats.
- [78:42]
C
Helmets to hard hats.
- [78:43]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's still around that. I think Monster bought them at one point. But it's. There's so many well intended people who are trying to build vet friendly on ramps into industry, who are trying to close the skills gap in whatever way they can. And I know there's so many politicians too who, you know, all the jokes aside and whatever, you know, they're, they're striving to make a difference. Do you know? Shit, Chuck. What's his name? West Virginia. Riley.
- [79:16]
B
Oh yeah, Riley Moore.
- [79:18]
A
Riley Moore, Republican West Virginia. He's got a bill, it's in Congress now. It's called Jumpstart.
- [79:28]
C
Yeah, I know the bill. I did not serve with him, so I don't know him, but I know the bill. Yes.
- [79:33]
A
What do you think of it?
- [79:35]
C
I think it's good. I think it's exactly what we're talking about. To be able to have government support, to be able to funnel people in the direction that is best for them, that's most important has to be a good fit. But it's also best for the country to have people go in.
- [79:50]
A
Yeah. If people are just struggling to keep up. Jumpstart is. It's like a 529. And to be fair, you can take. 529 is pre tax money that you can spend later on education. And you can take some of that money out of a 529 and use it on a trade school. What Jumpstart does is it opens that up and lets you spend that money on things like tools because a tradesman in many cases has to buy his own tools. And this seems like such a common sense thing that every, I mean who's not behind that?
- [80:25]
C
Well, there's a few things. So One is the 529 programs did not always include trade schools. That's a fairly recent addition, which was very positive. The idea of tools that especially comes into play on something like an apprenticeship, because you can get that apprentice as an employer, you can offer that, but you're not required to pay for the tools and the uniform and whatever else might come. So that's going to be part of it. The U.S. chamber of Commerce advocates and we support skilled savings accounts, which is kind of like you have with savings accounts for health care. Now, as an employer, you could allow the employee to set aside tax deferred funds for their education related to trade schools and so forth. So all of these together are moving in the right direction.
- [81:15]
A
What should people know about the incredibly complicated title of the organization you're running right now? Remind me of what that is again, and how can they get involved, Learn
- [81:23]
C
more help, et cetera, career education, colleges and universities. Our website is career.org you can learn about what we do, the types of schools and students that we serve. If you want to learn more about the book, that is tradeupbook.com and we get into all of these issues and you can if anyone wants to reach me, I have a website. It's just my personal website, jasonaltmire.com and there's a contact me form on there. Feel free to reach out. Would love to talk to anybody about
- [81:53]
A
these issues and your personal phone number. How many?
- [81:55]
C
I'm not going to do that part.
- [81:57]
A
I would not do that. And who's Riley Burr and how come he's in second position?
- [82:01]
C
Riley, It's a she.
- [82:02]
A
Oh.
- [82:03]
C
Riley is an amazing researcher. She leads our research foundation, the CQ Research Foundation. She's also vice president of policy and research. She has an incredible combination of being a very smart and savvy researcher, but also a great writer and thinker and intuitive thinker. And the way that we worked together was she helped run the data and come up with ideas and we worked together in writing the book. And I think it worked out really well because we have a good combination of telling the anecdotes and the stories and the reasons why we have this issue and then explaining through data and research what some of the solutions are.
- [82:43]
A
Do you still get up to Pennsylvania occasionally?
- [82:45]
C
Yes.
- [82:46]
A
A couple hours ago, right before you got here, I just learned we're going to be doing an event there maybe around Carnegie Mellon. I was there last July for their infrastructure energy thing with Senator McCormick yeah. McCormick and Fetterman.
- [83:00]
C
Yep.
- [83:01]
A
They were both there. The President was there. A lot of CEOs were there. 93 billion was pledged in the room. Right. I was the guy who raised my hand and say, hey, you know, carve off a little tiny slice of that to help me make a more persuasive case for the very jobs you're talking about creating. Well, as it turns out, they might do that. So we're doing another event there this summer. Wells Fargo's involved, maybe Thomas Tull. Do you know Thomas?
- [83:28]
C
Yeah, he was on your podcast.
- [83:30]
A
He was. You know what? You actually really listen to this thing.
- [83:34]
C
Yes.
- [83:34]
A
I'm actually going to have to read your book now. No, look, man, I'm so glad you wrote it, and I would say, long overdue, but that sounds like you've been putting it off, and obviously you haven't. You've been in this fight a long time.
- [83:48]
C
Yeah.
- [83:49]
A
But I hope if I can be of use to your organization, don't hesitate to reach out.
- [83:55]
C
We will. And thank you for what you're doing. You have made such a difference. And I know you know this, but you were out there before anybody else, and everyone has now caught up to you. But you led the charge and you made a big difference.
- [84:08]
A
You know what made me laugh, man? I was in the course of conducting the extensive research I do for all of these recordings. I was walking over here this morning from the hotel, and I was listening to you. I think it was C Span, you know. Yeah. Some riveting stuff there. Riveting stuff. Actually, I love C Span because it just reminds me of some hybrid like NPR got together with PBS and had some kind of public access baby.
- [84:41]
C
And so I don't want to interrupt you because I want to hear where you're going, but did you know before there were streaming services when it was just cable in the 80s and 90s? This is a true story. There were markets in this country. If you didn't pay your cable bill, instead of just shutting it off, they would put C Span on all your cables instead, and you paid. Where do I pay? Where do I send the bill?
- [85:08]
A
That's the kind of incentive, you know, that people respond to. Yes, make it stop. No, like, I actually love it. You know, I make fun of it because they never got the memo that, you know, TVs changed in the last 40 years. The fact that, you know, Fred can still call in from Kalamazoo, right, to vent his spleen, and they'll let him talk for three minutes, and you just have to kind of sit there and listen. I mean, it's awesome. But the point was made, I think, think, by your interlocutor that in 2008, a third of the country, maybe a little less, thought that college might not be worth the cost. And today, as in a couple months ago, it's two thirds of the country. We started microworks in 2008. So I'm not saying. But look. And again, and this is where we should land the plane, because I think it is important to stay at least as centered as we are. I'm with you. I got a guy for that. I'm not the guy.
- [86:15]
C
Right.
- [86:15]
A
But I got a guy for that. I am the product of a liberal arts education, and I have a degree from a university, and it served me really well. But. And I know what they say, everything before but is bullshit, but it's not. But a valuable thing isn't priceless. And at some point, the cost of all of this, it's just got to stop. And so, you know, hearing that on C span, of all places, it did make my puny little chest swell up with pride. Because college is valuable today, but it's too damn expensive. And if we don't do something, I don't know, how are they ever going to get to the point where they lower the tuition?
- [87:00]
C
And the issue is who's going to pay? No one says, if you want to study anthropology or film or theater or sociology, whatever it might be, have at it. Follow your best, that's fine. But should the American taxpayer fund your education? That's the fundamental question.
- [87:17]
A
What am I thinking, Chuck? No, that's correct.
- [87:19]
B
Hell, no.
- [87:19]
A
Hell, no. Hell to the no. All right, look, it's getting boring because we're in such violent agreement on every point, but I'm gratified, seriously, to know that you're out there. I'm glad you got out of the swamp, and I'm glad you're running this organization. I'm gonna learn everything I can about it, and I'm at your disposal, if I can be of use.
- [87:37]
C
Thank you for having me, Mike. I appreciate it.
- [87:39]
A
The book's called Trade Up. You ought to think about doing that very Thing by Jason Altmeyer and Riley Burr. See you next week when you leave a review, which we hope that you'll do. Tell us who you are Tell us who you are and before you go Whoa, whoa Won't you leave Five star. Five lousy little Star, The Way I
- [88:27]
B
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- [88:51]
D
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