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THE FUTURE OF WORK IS CHANGING. ARE WE TALKING TO OUR KIDS ABOUT ALL THEIR OPTIONS?

11 minutes ago

4 min read

Each time we head into another high school career event, a few questions seem to carry a little more weight: What should we be encouraging the next generation to do for a living? What does the future of work look like?

We're there to introduce students to the electrical trade and show them what a career as an electrician can look like. But artificial intelligence is changing how work gets done, and the jobs today's students will be doing 10 or 15 years from now may look very different from the ones we know today.

Every generation has had to adapt to new technology, from the Industrial Revolution onward. The challenge now is the pace of change. We can't predict exactly what the future workforce will look like, but we can make sure young people understand the opportunities available to them, and how to adapt as the opportunities do. That’s becoming more important than ever.

The state of the skilled trades Mike Rowe has been in the news again lately, talking about what he's hearing from business leaders about the skilled trades workforce. Some are describing it as the problem of the decade, as employers worry about whether they'll have enough trained workers to meet demand.

Part of that concern comes from a recent survey by the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades. According to an October 2026 Fox Business report, the U.S. is expected to face roughly 1.7 million skilled trades job openings each year through 2035, while training programs are producing only about 55 workers for every 100 needed.

But Rowe also points to signs that attitudes toward the trades are changing. Through his foundation alone, he says interest in the trades has increased tenfold over the past year. In the accompanying interview, he connects that shift to the rising cost of four-year degrees, changing perceptions of trade careers and the way AI is clarifying all of it.

Rowe sees that shift as a sign that long-standing stigmas and misconceptions about trade careers may finally be starting to fade.

National numbers like these make headlines, but they don't tell the whole story. Workforce needs vary by state and occupation, and the picture looks different when we bring the discussion closer to home. So what do the projections tell us about Colorado?

According to state employment projections, Colorado had approximately 18,050 electricians in 2024, with that number projected to grow to 23,640 by 2034. That's an increase of 31%, compared with about 10% nationally. The state projects an average of 2,340 electrician job openings annually over that period, including both new positions and openings created when workers leave the occupation.

Those projections don't mean thousands of electrician positions are sitting vacant today. They do, however, point to sustained demand for people entering and advancing in the field.

The takeaway isn't that every student should become an electrician. It's that electrical work is a career worth understanding, particularly in a state where the occupation is projected to continue growing substantially.

The work will change. The need for skilled people remains.

It's tempting to divide careers into two groups: jobs technology will replace and jobs it won't. I don't think the future will be that simple.

Electricians already use evolving tools, digital systems and increasingly sophisticated technology. The work will change, too. But understanding electrical systems, diagnosing problems in physical environments, working safely and taking responsibility for the result are important parts of the job that can't be reduced to simply knowing how to use today's tools. Those abilities will continue to matter as technology advances, in electrical work and across the workforce.

We may not be able to tell students exactly which jobs will be most in demand when they enter the workforce. We can help them explore careers that develop practical skills, technical knowledge and the ability to adapt as the work evolves.

Start the conversation about the trades early.

For young people, career decisions are shaped by what they hear at home, at school and from the people around them. If the careers we regularly discuss are limited to those requiring a four-year degree, we're leaving out a significant part of the picture.

This isn't an argument against college. It's an argument for talking about careers more broadly and giving young people enough information to make decisions based on their interests, strengths and goals.

That conversation can start well before graduation. Parents can encourage hands-on projects, help younger kids explore how things work, and introduce them to people in different occupations. As students get older, they can attend career fairs, explore technical education opportunities, participate in 4-H or FFA, arrange job shadows and learn what different training paths involve.

For students interested in electrical work, an apprenticeship is one option worth investigating. In Colorado, becoming a journeyman electrician requires 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and 288 hours of classroom instruction. Apprenticeships combine supervised work with technical education, allowing people to develop their skills while earning a paycheck.

Parents don't need to be experts in every career to help their kids explore them. They can start by asking questions, finding reliable information and encouraging conversations with people who do the work.

We can’t tell today’s students exactly what their jobs will look like when they’re our age, but we don’t need to. Our parents probably couldn’t have predicted that for us, either. Even with today’s rapid pace of change, we can introduce young people to a range of career options, encourage them to explore their interests and strengths, and help them develop the ability to adapt as their careers and the world around them evolve.