A dire electrician shortage is a ‘life or death’ threat to the AI data center boom—and an opportunity for Gen Z

When Nicholas Bowman was in high school, he thought his next steps were already mapped: He’d get a college degree and land a stable, high-paying job—enjoying the kind of economic mobility higher education has long promised.

But as application deadlines loomed, doubt crept in. What was so great about spending four years in classrooms, taking on tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and still facing no guarantee of a solid living?

That’s when a family friend suggested a different route: an electrical apprenticeship. Bowman investigated—and it felt like a no-brainer.

He could start earning about $42,000 in his first year while taking classes just two nights a week at his local IBEW chapter in Newport News, Va. By the time he graduates as a journeyman this summer, he expects to make around $71,000—and, as he puts it, spend his days in a job that feels like he’s playing with “adult Legos.”

Bowman, now 22, is part of a growing wave of Gen Z workers reconsidering jobs once treated as not even worth their consideration: electrical work, HVAC, plumbing, and other skilled trades. Part of that shift is cultural—there’s less stigma, more TikTok visibility, and more open talk about student debt and wages. But part of it is economic: Many entry-level white-collar jobs are feeling more like pits than ladders. Companies have been rethinking their hiring practices as questions around the future of work spiral in the wake of the rapid adoption of artific...