General Motors CEO Mary Barra is urging high school students to take a closer look at skilled trades such as auto technician and electrician, saying the United States undervalues hands-on technical careers at a moment when artificial intelligence is reshaping the labor market.
Speaking on Fortune’s “Titans and Disruptors of Industry” podcast, Barra said students should understand that trades can offer strong career prospects and may be “a little more AI-proof than some others.” She said an auto technician can earn $80,000 to $90,000 a year, and potentially more depending on hours worked.
Barra’s remarks come amid mounting concern among business leaders about shortages in blue-collar and technical occupations. Ford CEO Jim Farley said in November that the company had been unable to fill about 5,000 mechanic openings even while offering salaries of $120,000 a year.
The broader shortage could grow sharply over the next several years. The Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades has projected that the United States could be short 2.1 million skilled-trades workers by 2030, underscoring the scale of the gap Barra and other executives are warning about.
Barra pointed specifically to electricians, saying demand is rising in part because of the data centers being built to support artificial intelligence. The United States is expected to need more than 300,000 additional electricians over the next 10 years.
The GM chief framed the issue not only as a labor shortage, but as a cultural problem. She said Europe shows more respect for trades and for people who perform technical work with their hands, build things, make things and service things, while the United States often gives greater status to office jobs.
The subject is personal for Barra. Her father worked at GM for 39 years as a die maker, and her own career at the company began while she was studying at the General Motors Institute, now Kettering University. She took a co-op job inspecting quality on a Pontiac assembly line, joined GM full time as an electrical engineer in 1985 and was running the Detroit Hamtramck assembly plant by 2003.
GM has invested nearly $200 million in training and facilities connected to skilled trades and other technical roles, including advanced manufacturing, engineering and technician positions. The spending also covers local training programs and improvements at GM manufacturing facilities, technical centers and dealership service operations.
In April, GM added about 90 apprentices to skilled-trades programs across its U.S. manufacturing divisions, expanding its own pipeline for technical workers. Barra described a work ethic shaped by the idea that work comes before play and that hard work is expected.
Other corporate leaders have made similar warnings. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said in July that the United States needs 300,000 electricians, welders and other workers to build ships over the next five to 10 years, calling skilled training a path to jobs that can pay $80,000, $90,000 or $100,000 a year after a year or two of preparation.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has also warned that AI is disrupting the traditional route from college to white-collar employment. At BlackRock’s 2026 Infrastructure Summit in March, Fink said society is not adapting fast enough to the pace of AI-driven change and that the technology will create new demand for skilled jobs.