Concern about a lack of skills in the field of work has dominated the workforce, but Mike Rowe, CEO of the Mikeroworks Foundation, points to a different crisis: a decrease desire To work.
“The skills gap is real, but the will gap is real,” said the 63-year-old former TV guestheer in a recent interview with Fox company.
According to him, 6.8 million “valid men” are not only unemployed, but they are not even looking for work. “That never happened in peacetime,” he argued.
This is why he believes that the famous working ethics of America is gradually eroding.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that the participation of women in the workforce has remained relatively stable since the early 1990s. However, the participation of men fell steadily and fell from 86.6% in 1948 to 68% in 2024.
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), the participation rate for men in their first working years (age from 25 to 54) fell from 98% in September 1954 to 89% in January 2024.
In particular, 28% of these men said that they did not work and the claim of Rowe confirmed that the desire for work was taken. However, the survey also showed that 57% of the men of the Prime-age mental or physical health problems mention as barriers to work or job seeker, which suggests that many are not as “valid” as Rowe assumes.
Moreover, 47% of these men mention a lack of training and education, outdated skills or a matte working history as major obstacles for work. Fortunately, Rowe has a solution for this specific group.
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Expanding opportunities for skills training can bring some men back into the labor force.
Through his foundation, Rowe has given away $ 8.5 million to fairs since 2008, to support more than 1,800 men and women who are registered with trained transaction programs throughout the country.
“My goal with Mikeroweworks is not to help the maximum number of people,” he said Fox company. “It is to help a number of people who merge with our view of the world and are willing to go to where the work is. Who are willing to demonstrate something that looks a lot like work ethics here in 2025.”
