The concerns concerning a lack of skills practiced dominated the debates of the workforce, but Mike Rowe, CEO of Mikeroweworks Foundation, points to another crisis: a decrease desire to work.
“The skills gap is real, but the difference in will is also real,” said the former 63 -year -old television host in a recent interview with Renard business.
According to him, 6.8 million “valid men” are not only unemployed but do not even seek a job. “It never happened in peacetime,” he said.
Here is why he believes that the famous work ethics in America is gradually eroding.
Data from Labor statistics office (BLS) shows that women’s participation in the workforce has remained relatively stable since the early 1990s. However, the participation of men regularly dropped, from 86.6% in 1948 to 68% in 2024.
According to the Bipartite political center (BPC), the participation rate of men in their first years of work (25 to 54 years) increased from 98% in September 1954 to 89% in January 2024.
In particular, 28% of these men declared that they did not work by choice, validating the affirmation of Rowe according to which the desire for employment had decreased. However, the survey also revealed that 57% of privileged age men cite mental or physical health problems such as obstacles to work or job search, which suggests that many are not as “valid” as Rowe.
In addition, 47% of these men quote a lack of training and education, obsolete skills or dull professional history as major obstacles to employment. Fortunately, Rowe has a solution for this specific group.
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The expansion of vocational training opportunities could help bring certain men to the active population.
Thanks to its foundation, Rowe has granted $ 8.5 million in scholarships since 2008, supporting more than 1,800 men and women registered with qualified trades programs across the country.
“My goal with Mikeroweworks is not to help the maximum number of people,” he said Renard business. “It is to help a certain number of people who behave with our vision of the world and are ready to go where the work is. Who are ready to demonstrate something that looks very much like work ethics here in 2025. ”
