5.6 Million Reasons to Stop Ignoring the Skills Gap

Mike Rowe

Last week, my personal toilet at mikeroweWORKS Headquarters coughed up a disgusting clog of bad advice, noxious bromides, and odorous stereotypes, leaving my entire office awash in the horrific stench of myth and nonsense. With no licensed plumbers on hand, I was forced to address the problem myself, pulling each offending fallacy from it’s cardboard tube of allegorical poo, and confronting it with a mix of government statistics and righteous indignation. As always, my objective was twofold – to shine a light on America’s widening skills gap, and debunk the growing perception that “all the good jobs are gone.” This latest effort is called “Hot Under the Blue Collar,” and it was sponsored by One Hour Heating and Air Conditioning, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, and Mister Sparky Electric. Like so many other companies who rely on a skilled workforce, the people who own home service businesses are struggling to find the next generation of tradespeople who will keep our lights on and our pipes clear. Right now, thousands of good jobs – literally thousands – exist within these three companies alone. But no one seems to want them, and the reasons have nothing to do with low pay, poor benefits, or a lack of available training. They have more to do with the metaphorical miasma of misinformation currently clogging my commode. Consider:”>Mike Rowe