TAMPA, Fla. — As artificial intelligence continues to evolve and impact the job market, many students are skipping the traditional four-year college route and turning to the trades to future-proof their careers.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a massive skilled-worker shortage on the horizon, with a shortfall of nearly 649,300 workers each year in fields like welding, construction, and plumbing.
To understand how this shift plays out in real life, I attended an auto mechanic class at the Hillsborough College training center on the Ybor campus. There, students were in a mad dash to fix cars and pass a major test. The hands-on final exam required them to troubleshoot vehicles that would not start.
"Usually, what they do, he bugs a car for certain, like, sensors or certain misfires and stuff like that. So we just got to figure it out in a certain amount of time," Antonio Whitfield said.
The work requires human brains and manual dexterity. However, the looming presence of artificial intelligence is on students' minds.
"I'm not worried about it, no. But have I thought about it? Yes," Whitfield said.
"Yeah, of course, that's why I chose this field in the first place, honestly, because you can't really be replaced. You know, like this, a skill that takes many, many years to learn fully," Frankie Adovasio said.
Amid these developments, leaders at Hillsborough College are also planning to pivot their educational strategies to adapt to the changing landscape.
"I think, as an institution, there's going to be true for all post-secondary institutions that we're all gonna have to take a look at our academic options and figure out which of those entry-level jobs that our students would normally be applying for after graduation are going to be replaced with artificial intelligence," John Meeks said.
Meeks is the associate vice president of post-secondary adult vocational workforce programs at the college.
"There are national reports that are showing that enrollment in the trade programs is up as much as 20% since 2020," Meeks said.
"So it's really great to see a resurgence, because I think we lost that for a period of time, where everybody was going towards traditional academic programs, and now there's this resurgence and this new interest in the trades," Meeks said.
As the semester concludes and students prepare to join the workforce, they remain confident in their job security and the value of their hands-on skills.
"Hopefully, making a lot more money, because maybe it'll help us out. But, you know, I don't see AI picking an entire car, taking out the entire motor, replacing it, you know," Adovasio said.
"There's no robot going to be named Antonio working on my car, Tampa Bay 28 reporter Michael Paluska asked.
"I'll tell you that for sure," Whitfield said.
This story was reported on-air by Michael Paluska and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Paluska and our editorial team verify all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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