And Ford isn’t the only employer struggling with a shortfall of workers. For over a decade, numerous blue-collar professions—careers that include manual labor ranging from manufacturing and automotive technicians to construction—have struggled to attract young people.
But, as white-collar entry-level jobs disappear, employers and educators have failed to build credible pathways into blue-collar work—leaving high-paying roles unfilled and Gen Z shut out.
Clinton Crawford, a 55-year-old automotive technician in Arkansas, told Fortune the system fails from the outset to support young people interested in work like his. Crawford’s high school–aged children were never presented with blue-collar work as a viable option. Instead, nearly every student was encouraged to prepare for a four-year college education. “That’s good, if that’s for you,” Crawford said, “but I don’t think it’s for everyone.”
“If you were to meet a doctor, or someone in a four-year program, or you were to meet someone who is in a four year program, or you met someone who was working on your car, think of the different impressions you would have of all three,” Crawford said.
Crawford pushes back against stereotypes that frame blue-collar labor as unskilled, pointing to the intelligence required to understand the technical aspects of complex systems while translating that knowledge to customers. According to Crawford, these trades are not “for those who can’t do well.” To him, this work is deeply fulfilling, and he finds meaning in helping people get back on the road.
“I’ve been able to help someone when life has given them a bad situation.”
Employers have struggled to build and sustain the pathways needed to meet increasing demand for skilled labor. In her role at Jobs for the Future (JFF), a national nonprofit focused on workforce development, Myriam Sullivan works with employers to build apprenticeship pipelines. She said, employers “expect people to come to work job-ready.”
“Oftentimes our conversations with employers center around, like, ‘you’re never going to find that,’” Sullivan said. “So how might we flip that and help you build the workforce that you want to see?”
In his conversations with workers, he said candidates may be offered as little as $11 an hour while training, prompting many to choose immediately higher-paying work instead. If workers are “being paid quite a bit less than what they’re hoping to eventually make, that can be a hard decision to make, especially if you’re cash-strapped,” Mahon said.
Educators and employers still face significant challenges in creating clearer pathways for young people to enter these critical and lucrative careers. But it’s an effort Crawford sees as necessary: “Everybody works in this economy together.”
