CANFIELD, Ohio – Concerns about college debt and the potential impact of artificial intelligence on white-collar jobs are giving some young people more reasons to consider careers in the skilled trades, while years of outreach by trade unions, schools and organizations such as the Builders Association of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania appear to be helping students understand those careers earlier.
Both trends were evident Tuesday at the Mahoning Valley Skilled Trades Expo at the Canfield Fairgrounds, where trade representatives reported strong workloads and growing apprenticeship programs.
“A lot of the kids that I’ve talked to lately, the biggest thing I keep hearing lately is AI,” said Garrett Frasco, apprenticeship coordinator for the Sheet Metal Workers Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee. “Everybody’s worried about AI taking programming jobs or development jobs and stuff like that.”
AI may become another tool for the trades, Frasco said, but “it’s not going to replace the guy hanging ductwork for a school, or the electrician that’s hooking up a junction box, or the ironworker putting on the structural steel.”
Some young people attending the expo are thinking along similar lines.
Caleb Dubos, a homeschooled 12th grader attending the expo for the first time, was there to learn about electrical work. He said he sees an opportunity to begin his career earlier rather than pursuing a degree he does not need.
“There’s nothing that I’m interested in that I need a college degree for,” Dubos said. “I like working with my hands.”
Another attendee, 17-year-old Zach Diroff, also is homeschooled and came specifically to learn about becoming an electrician.
“I’m just looking to get into a trade,” Diroff said. “I’m interested in it, so I wanted to learn more.”
Diroff said he likes working with his hands and does not plan to attend college. He also knows friends considering the trades, with many concerned about the cost of college.
The seventh annual expo opened Tuesday morning to about 2,000 middle school students throughout the area. Tuesday afternoon featured public hours, allowing people interested in the trades to meet workers and apprenticeship coordinators and try hands-on demonstrations.
The Builders Association expects another 5,000 high school students Wednesday and Thursday.
The growing interest comes as several trades report needing workers.
Brian Wydick, business representative for the Operating Engineers District Two, said the union is continually looking for skilled workers as its workload has greatly increased.
“Our man-hours are way up,” Wydick said. “From last year, we are up 1.5 million man-hours for the operators alone.”
Wydick said federal infrastructure spending approved during former President Joe Biden’s administration remains a significant source of work.
“Joe Biden’s infrastructure money is still coming in,” Wydick said. “I know a lot of people won’t want to hear that, but that is the truth.”
“You drive around Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana counties, there is a ton of roadwork and bridge work going on – and utilities,” he said. “So that’s an influx of money coming in.”
Meanwhile, private investment, including power plants and proposed data centers, is adding to the workload, Wydick said.
Frasco reported similar demand for sheet metal workers.
“We’re swamped,” he said. “We haven’t let up for five or six years now. Anybody who wants to go to work is going to work.”
Frasco also pointed to federal spending and policies under the Biden administration as factors behind the workload.
“President Biden’s policies were very union friendly, like the battery plant in Lordstown,” he said. “We had 80-some members working at that job alone.”
Federal spending also has supported school construction, he said.
“A lot of it is federal money going to schools,” Frasco said. “A lot of brand-new schools in the area. New school in Salem, so just a ton of jobs like that. A lot of federal money coming in, pumping into the area.”
The demand, they said, is helping to drive higher-than-usual apprenticeship numbers.
Frasco’s program has 32 apprentices, including 22 first-year apprentices. When he entered the trade about a decade ago, his class had six people, and three completed the program.
“We’ve had a lot of baby boomers retiring,” Frasco said. “We’re rebuilding our numbers, but there’s plenty of opportunity out there.”
Ahren Peplow, training director for Local 64, said his program has 77 apprentices, “which is about as big as we’ve ever been.”
“The work around this area has always been healthy, especially in the Youngstown area,” Peplow said. “We may not have massive projects, but we are always busy.”
Trade representatives also see evidence that years of outreach are working.
Wydick said the quality of recruits entering the Operating Engineers has improved, particularly during the past four years.
“We’re getting better recruits than we ever have,” he said. “I think it’s from the efforts of the schools and getting them interested in the trades at an early age.”
Frasco said apprenticeship coordinators routinely visit schools and work with guidance counselors, meaning students often recognize them when they arrive at events such as the expo.
“There’s been a more open-mindedness to the trades than what I would say in the past,” he said.
Peplow sees the same trend.
“I grew up in the era of, if you don’t go to college, you’re not going to amount to anything in your entire life,” he said. “There has been a massive dynamic shift in the last better part of a decade.”
Peplow now regularly visits schools and attends career fairs as part of that outreach.
Madison Foley, 24, of Austintown, wasn’t attracted to the trades at first but is now a proud ambassador. The third-year apprentice and HVAC service technician with BC Heating and Plumbing originally planned to become an accountant and attended college before changing direction.
“I figured this out, and I love it,” Foley said.
She said college costs and changes in the workplace should make young people take a closer look at apprenticeships.
“Student loan debt is insane,” Foley said. “This way, you can actually put your hands and your mind to work and build something for the future.”
And when it comes to AI, she sees an advantage in the work she chose.
“AI might be taking over somebody else’s job,” Foley said, “but they’re never going to be able to take over the trades.”
Pictured at top: Garrett Frasco, apprenticeship coordinator for the Sheet Metal Workers Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee, stands near equipment displayed at the Mahoning Valley Skilled Trades Expo.