Business leaders are alerting white-collar workers that the golden age of the knowledge economy is quickly ending thanks to AI, while blue-collar jobs will be in high demand.
That’s what Chris Power, CEO of Hadrian, said in a recent interview with tech publication Sourcery at the Hill and Valley Forum.
“All the white-collar jobs are going to get automated,” he predicted. “I think we’re going to see massive hyperinflation in blue-collar salaries.”
His firm, which does work for the defense sector, seeks to automate factories so that nonspecialized workers can become proficient in complex manufacturing industries.
If forecasts from Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei are right, many white-collar workers could be out of work in as soon as 18 months.
At the same time, the AI infrastructure boom is fueling demand for blue-collar workers, like electricians. For some, the signs are clear that blue-collar work will offer a more secure future for America’s youth than the white-collar careers exposed to AI.
“Everyone, go tell your kids to quit college and university and go get a welding certification,” Power said. “The country needs you.”
Quitting college for blue-collar work?
For now, Power’s prediction of “massive hyperinflation” in blue-collar pay remains just that.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics listed the median pay for a welder at $51,000 in 2024, the latest year for which data is available. That’s lower than the median pay of roughly $60,000 for all workers in the U.S. the same year.
What’s more, BLS estimated employment of welders, along with cutters, solderers, and brazers, will only grow 2% through 2034, slower than the average for all occupations.
Still, as the AI data center buildout explodes thanks to record-breaking investments, which will hit $700 billion this year alone, some blue-collar roles are rising in demand. There’s currently a dire shortage of electricians, and employment in the profession is expected to grow by 9% through 2034, well above the average growth for all occupations.
The salaries are there to meet the demand. Construction workers at AI data centers, for example, are earning an average of about $81,100 annually, according to data from hiring platform Skillit. Even outside of the AI boom, other blue-collar careers are experiencing similar shortages, with a demand for about 250,000 shipbuilders in the U.S.
But while he touts blue-collar roles, Power revealed his company had “secretly” begun to automate some welding as part of its contract with the U.S. Navy. “Because there’s a lot of welding on submarines,” he said.
Of course, robotic welding has existed since the 1960s, and the numbers show that this sort of automation hasn’t quite led to a significant decrease in demand for welders. Power said he can’t get enough welders in his own factories even with automation.
Aside from welding, the CEO sees another industry boom he finds tangentially related to machining and construction jobs: food.
“I think one of the greatest opportunities for private capital—apart from public-private investment alongside the Department of War—is to build Chick-fil-A’s and bars around all of our factories,” he said. “We need to eat so we can work harder for the country.”
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