Ford Motor Company and the Ad Council are developing a national campaign to make skilled-trades careers more visible to young people, parents and educators as employers face an estimated 1.7 million openings a year through 2035. The effort is backed by Home Depot, Dycom and The Wallace Foundation and follows research showing only 9% of teenagers were actively considering the trades. The Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades, founded by Ford, Carhartt, BlackRock and Google and since expanded with 14 other corporations including Meta, Microsoft and The Hershey Company, estimates that training pipelines produce 55% of the workers needed. Its data show that 48% of apprenticeship starters finish their programs and that 29% are employed in a trade within five years. Carhartt CEO Linda Hubbard said transportation, child-care access and inadequate early career guidance can contribute to attrition. Although 95% of school counselors view trade school as a credible option, 54% often recommend vocational or trade school and 28% often recommend apprenticeships. Skilled-trades careers pay 32% more than other jobs not requiring a college degree, according to the report, and can offer an eventual path to entrepreneurship. Demand is also being propelled by data-center construction and defense-industrial expansion, while Mike Rowe said three electricians under 30 working at a Plano, Texas, data center earned more than $200,000 annually.