GM CEO Mary Barra says electricians are in 'huge demand' right now — and it's a high-paying, AI-proof career you can launch with no degree

“These are good-paying jobs. There is huge demand for electricians right now, and I think there will be demand for other trades, especially considering what is happening with data centers,” she said.

She added that the company has poured $250 million into training skilled tradespeople since 2021 — just one of many examples of how employers, the government and various other programs are willing to provide apprenticeships for those with no background in the field.

Even successful grads consider skipping college

As Dirty Jobs host and blue-collar proponent Mike Rowe has trumpeted, those who work with their hands can easily rake in six figures due to the fact that “practically every major industry is desperate to hire more skilled workers” right now. Echoing Barra, Rowe asserts electricians are getting “poached like pro athletes” in 2026 for positions paying some $260,000.

This is a stark contrast to those dishing out $100,000 for a degree at a top institution, only to face pay cuts and worsening, potentially longer-term unemployment than in previous eras. It’s why Rowe and others assert that you “absolutely, positively do not need” higher education to do well financially, despite it at one point being drilled into students’ heads that they would be “screwed” without one.

It’s not just those in blue collar professions who share this perspective, either. Jensen Huang, who has a Masters of Engineering from Stanford and helms American tech heavyweight Nvidia, famously proclaimed earlier this year “electricians, plumbers, iron workers, technicians, builders — this is your time!” Even U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Yale Law School graduate, has come out to say that the prestige of post-secondary has lost its sheen.

Indeed, as AI threatens many desk jobs, it has sparked a new industrial revolution that demands more skilled labor to keep up. It’s something America may not be used to just yet, but the wave is catching on as new grads continue to flounder.

As Barra said in her interview, “I think Europe has much more respect for the trades and for people who do highly technical work with their hands — people who build things, make things, and service things. But these can be great careers. I’m proud of what [GM] is doing [with training], but I also think there is a societal issue.”