Jun 6, 2026
No experience, no problem. Dycom Industries, a company that contracts for data center companies, is building a 49-acre fake town in Monroe, Georgia — one where new hires practice trade skills in a realistic setting. It broke ground in April and is expected to open mid-2027.
The goal: to train up a skilled trade workforce, even if that means starting from scratch.
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“You’re really taking — I use the joke, but it’s not really a joke because I have two college kids — the kid playing XBOX at home on his couch,” said Dan Peyovich, CEO of Dycom, to Fortune.
The buildout is part of the company’s push into data centers, a booming business. In 2025, Dycom completed the acquisition of data center contractor Power Solutions. In its Q3 report, Dycom highlights how the acquisition “adds substantial skilled labor capacity” to its operations.
As AI eats the world, blue-collar employers like Dycom are getting creative to attract the next generation of tradespeople. Dycom offers new employees two weeks paid vacation on day one. Many offer high-paying, debt-free opportunities to unskilled young people — and it’s working.
The trades called, they want you
Competition for skilled tradespeople is hitting small outfits hard. Scotty Wristen, the owner of WE Electric in Abilene, has switched to hiring apprentices straight out of high school.
“They’re new; they don’t even have a set of tools,” Wristen told the Texas Tribune. “It’s usually about four or five months of hell where we have little mistakes that cost us time and money.”
He already lost five workers to companies building data centers like Stargate in Texas. The data-center builders offered pay and benefits Wristen couldn’t match.
It’s not just small shops — everyone is struggling to find skilled tradespeople. An analysis by Randstad called skilled trades the “bottleneck” that threatened AI-powered growth. The study found it now takes longer to hire a skilled electrician or HVAC worker than a traditional desk worker. That’s because, compared to desk jobs, demand for skilled-trades is growing three times faster.
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Big players are building their own pipelines. In 2025, Carrier Global Corporation launched an initiative to hire over 1,000 service technicians in the U.S. and train 100,000 more. The initiative follows on the heels of Carrier University, which launched in 2024 to train up HVAC workers.
Though supply still lags demand, more people are moving to trades. A National Student Clearinghouse report found that enrollment in two-year colleges grew faster than elsewhere, driven by trade-majors like Repair Technologies/Technicians. Meanwhile, enrolled apprenticeships continue to grow year over year, up 300,000 from a decade prior.
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How to get a high-paying job, minus the debt
Trades training offers two things traditional college lacks: higher median wages, and in many cases, the power to earn while you learn.
The trades pay better than you might think. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) pegs the 2024 median wages of electricians and HVAC workers at $62,350 and $59,810, respectively. The median wage across all careers: $49,500.
Some careers offer on-the-job-training. BLS says most electricians are trained via four to five year apprenticeship programs. For each year, apprentices typically receive 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training. Apprentices typically earn a percentage of what journeymen make. At $16 an hour, an apprentice in their first year of training might earn $32,000.
Unsure where all the jobs are at? You can search programs with the Department of Labor’s online Apprenticeship Finder. Many programs will hire straight out of high school, no practical experience required. As of writing, Pharmacy Technicians and Electrician postings are trending.
It’s uncertain whether the move into trade will continue. Dycom’s CEO told Fortune he hoped people would see skilled trades “as being just as an attractive track as going through college.” Employers are certainly doing their best to move talent in that direction.
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Cole Tretheway has been covering money for four years. He started as an intern at The Motley Fool Money, covering best-of credit cards, savings accounts, and financial products. He's since expanded into wholistic personal finances, including the psychology of money.
