Earlier this year, one of the largest asset managers in the world did something a financial institution should never have to do. It started training electricians. BlackRock committed $100 million to move 50,000 Americans into the skilled trades.
Its chief executive, Larry Fink, was blunt about why. The country needs an estimated $10 trillion in infrastructure investment by 2033, he said, and capital is no longer what’s in short supply.
The U.S. is racing to build data centers, a more resilient power grid, semiconductor plants, the physical scaffolding of the age of Artificial Intelligence. It does not lack money or technology. What it lacks is people who know how to build it.
Construction needs hundreds of thousands of additional skilled workers a year just to keep pace. Manufacturers project that nearly two million jobs could go unfilled if current trends continue. And the infrastructure build-out is already short the electricians, HVAC technicians, and high-voltage specialists who are needed to do the work.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member