One way to strengthen New York’s economy and ultimately make it more affordable here could be through booming business.
Work is now underway at the new Micron facility in Onondaga County, which is expected to create jobs quickly.
“This agreement puts American workers first by guaranteeing an estimated 50,000 jobs right here in this community,” said Lori Chevez-DeRemer, the U.S. Secretary of Labor, at the Micron groundbreaking earlier this year.
Billions of dollars in investment are coming to Saratoga County to expand GlobalFoundries, and construction workers were needed to build the new Buffalo Bills stadium.
“It’s valuable. You will never be out of a job,” said Lucas Rogers, a freshman in the construction program at Hudson Valley Community College. “There’s always work. Somebody will always hire you.”
The older generation still holds lots of trade-worker jobs.
“When I go to shops, I see a lot of technicians in my generation and they’re going to be retiring,” said Chris McNally, the Applied Technologies Department chair at HVCC.
Studies show 40% of baby boomers who work in trades are already retired and more will be leaving. The younger generation isn’t yet picking up the slack.
“The lack of people to come into the industry has been an issue,” McNally said.
The decline in interest has been a problem for years.
“There was definitely a dip in the years leading up to COVID and a few years after it,” said Joseph Dana, the Engineering, Architecture and Manufacturing Department chair at HVCC.
But recently, some say interest in trades is coming back.
“We went from an enrollment of around 70 students to now 105 to 110 in the fall semester,” Dana said.
Blue-collar career paths are the latest workforce Gen Z is entering, according to a Harris Poll.
“For anyone struggling to get into the trades, I’d say take the leap. If you like it, go for it,” said HVCC senior Adrianna Piccolo.
“I think that people underestimate how valuable a trade is and how valuable a learned skill is,” Rogers said.