As promised, here are the names of 303 young men and women who just received a work ethic scholarship from The mikeroweWORKS Foundation. A total of $2.4 million will be distributed among them, to help pay for the training they need to excel in their chosen field. I’ll circle back in a day or two to acknowledge the generosity of our many donors, including the people on this page, but tonight, please join me in congratulating this year’s recipients, and more importantly, in thanking them for choosing to learn a skill that’s in demand.
As you may have heard, America’s workforce has had a math problem, and we’ve struggled with it for nearly a decade. For every 5 five American workers who will retire this year, 2 workers replace them. This 5:2 ratio of retirees to new workers has been particularly devastating to the construction trades, and to skilled labor overall. Obviously, that math is not sustainable.
As I type this, hundreds of thousands of college graduates with billions of dollars in student loans can’t find work in their chosen field, but remain untrained for countless opportunities that actually exist. That’s a national tragedy, and before long, I suspect it’ll be a matter of national security. To say it another way, the skills gap is real, and if we don’t do something to reinvigorate the trades and make a more persuasive case for the millions of good jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, we’re going to see a truly unprecedented shortage of electricians, plumbers, welders, carpenters, masons, welders, linemen, and countless other critical jobs that are going begging. And that’s going to impact all of us.
To those who applied who don’t see their names on this list, don’t be discouraged. We had more qualified applicants this year than ever before, but alas, our resources are not unlimited. Please apply again next year, and please don’t forget to explore the many other scholarship programs currently available.
As for the rest of you, thanks for sharing and for supporting mikeroweWORKS over the years. If you didn’t see yesterday’s press release, it’s attached, and worth a read. Thanks to everyone here who proofread it!
Mike
