Why the Blue Collar Labor Shortage Is Not the Economic Solution for America's Working Class
There has been a great deal of discussion on the unemployment rate and the amount of N.I.L.F (Not in the Labor Force) population of the United States. Mike Rowe is one of the largest supporters of blue collar workers in the United States. Mike Rowe the host of shows like “Dirty Jobs” and “Somebody’s Gotta Do It” attempts to bring to light that often these Dirty Jobs pay a very good income, but that often people in the population don’t want to do these jobs because they are “dirty”. Rowe is often seen as the champion of the working class, but he’s only telling a part of the story of what these blue collar jobs have become in the United States.
The United State does have a problem with blue collar work, there is a shortage of workers that are knowledgeable and have the skills needed to perform these jobs. By most recent statistics between 7-10 million blue collar jobs in American are vacant. With a unemployment of 4.1%, reported in July of 2026 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that’s almost a blue collar job for every single unemployed American. However, the same point Rowe brings up time and again concerning the perception of these jobs are the same reason that young Americans aren’t considering these for their professions.
Our society has developed a denigrated perspective on blue collar jobs. In the same way Rowe decries that a generation of young people were told to go to college and get the credentialed certification and disregarded blue collar work entirely. That same denigrated perspective was adopted by those who employ those blue collar workers. Not only was there a generation of high school students that were told go to college and get your degree and you’ll have a good paying job, but the employers of those that chose blue collar professions were told that an entire generation of blue collar workers didn’t deserve a livable wage.
This doesn’t just extend to the employers of the blue collar workers. Many of these industries, such a Collision Technicians, Collision Painters, Automotive Technicians, Plumbers, and Electricians, are often controlled by insurance companies that are covering repairs on behalf of the customers. These industries have actively suppressed the wages of these blue collar workers, in the same way they’ve dictated the payments in the medical community.
For instance, An employer of a team of collision specialists who have the skills needed to repair your collision, will be capped by the insurance companies on the labor time to repair the vehicle and the insurance rate to repair the vehicle. The insurance company dictates the rate on the hour of work and the hours to repair that vehicle, no matter how long the repair actually takes. The employer in turn structures the compensation of those technicians based on those rates. It doesn’t matter the actual time needed to repair a fender on your vehicle by that worker, the insurance company and the employer is only going to pay you 1.5 hours to do the work. If the work takes you 3 hours, you get paid 1.5. If it takes you 1.0 hour, you get paid 1.5. The vast majority of the time, the savings ends up in the insurance companies pocket and the blue collar worker is left with working for 50% of their pay for that job.
Most blue collar jobs are structure this way. The job itself has a labor hour pay. This labor hour pay is not always set by the employer. The labor hour pay can be set by insurance companies, manufactures of the vehicles for warranty work, Service Contract Companies, and Home Warranty Insurance Companies.
The support for these blue collar workers has been suppressed as well. At one time in the United States Unions represented these blue collar workers for fair benefits and wages. In 1980, the percentage of union density was 25.7%, according to unionstats.com. In 2025, it’s 11.2%. The amount of union density doesn’t tell the full story, either. In the 46 years from 1980 to today you have had local, state, and the federal government that have actively tried to erode the legal protections that come with being part of a union. Often, states will not even take on cases that deal with upholding legal protections of Union members. Local, State, and Federal Law is simply disregarded in support of the corporation or industries actively breaking labor laws.
When Mike Rowe touts that these are six figure jobs, theoretically, but getting to a six figure income in these unsupported industries is almost impossible for an average working class blue collar worker. According to indeed.com the average Automotive Technician Salary in the United States is $28.57 an hour ($59,425.60). With employers advertising these positions as $169,000-$230,000 positions.
The investment across the United States that has been poured into vocational schools by local, state, and federal tax dollars has been increasing, yet the shortages remain. According to the Cicero Institute, The Vocational Rehabilitation Program spent $4 billion tax payer dollars in 2024, yet in 2026 that money has not made a single dent in the blue collar shortage.
As a society, why would there be a shortage in blue collar professions across the United States if, we as the tax payers are spending billions in rehabilitating vocational schools, students are enrolling in vocational schools, often using federal and state grants for their education. It’s because the first employment in these blue collar position that these graduates get, they realize they were lied to in the same way those college graduates were lied to. Mike Rowe, society, vocational schools, and often their parents are telling them to go into blue collar work that it’s a six figure income. They follow all of this advice and get their certification to do their blue collar profession and the first position they get is an apprentice, shop helper, lube technician, house keeper, front desk clerk in hospitality at $15.00 a hour or less. All the while they have to spend a percentage of that $15.00 a hour or less to attain the tools of the profession and the equipment needed to perform their work.
The average tool budget for a automotive technician is between $7,500-$11,000 with specialist spending around $27,000 according to LendingTree. Often that spending becomes yearly debt as the need for special tool continues to arise in various aspects of trade industries. After the 2017, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, none of these unreimbursed business expenses are tax-deductible, either, so the entire expense of tools, equipment, and the maintenance of these blue collar professionals equipment falls entirely on their rates to sustain.
The vocational school industry touts a 86% employment rate for vocational school graduates in the first 12 months. However, these vocational school graduates after a few years of employment in their chosen field will abandon the fields of their training because the promises that were made don’t fulfill their needs. The sacrifices they’re being asked to make for their profession don’t match their earning potential in other unskilled “Less Dirty” labor trades, such as factories. There is currently no long-term retention data on vocational school graduates rates that remain in their trained industry 5, 10, 15, 20 years after they attain the certification. In a 2014 study, Adult learning in modern societies: An international comparison from a life-course perspective, on the benefits of vocational education, Blossfeld noted “that if individuals cannot adapt to rapidly changing work environments through further education and skills updates in their careers, the long-term benefits of vocational education will gradually diminish.” What Blossfeld doesn’t point out in the research is that often the further education and skill updates are paid by those in the blue collar profession, not the employer. The vocational education simply gets you in the door to industries that have been designed to be a circus game. The Automotive Technician position advertised for $100,000 is the potential. The reality is after spending $50,000 on tools, further education, and acquiring the skills and certifications needed you can hope for $60,000 and that’s if insurance controlled sectors don’t change your labor hours to decrease that.
If we truly want to address the blue collar shortage that has plagued our nation for almost 20 years we need to first be honest with our young people. Even after years and years of attaining experience, tools, certifications, and value to your employer you’re still not going to be making six figures in the majority of the United States. Next, if we want to actually address the blue collar shortage local, state, and the federal government needs to bring these corporations to justice that are actively suppressing the labor hour rate and the labor hour time. Additionally, rather than subsidizing rehabilitating vocational schools with $4 billion in tax payer dollars, use those funds to actually litigate labor violations that are being perpetrated by these corporations on the blue collar workforce.
Mike Rowe has said “Opportunity usually shows up in overalls and looking like work.”, but what is absent from his conversation is that the overalls looking for work has a expectation that he will be paid a fair and competitive wage not only for the work he’s providing to you, but also the years of training and experience they’ve acquired. An entire generation that’s hearing “People just don’t want to work.” are responding “We want to work, but we’re no longer willing to work for your table scraps.”