Alabama’s skilled trades workforce has grown faster than nearly every other state in recent years, according to a new national report.
The Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades ranked Alabama sixth nationally for growth in skilled trades employment, which increased 11.3% between 2019 and 2025.
Improving pathways
The report comes after years of efforts in Alabama to put more students and workers on career and technical education and workforce training pathways.
About 366,000 Alabamians work in the skilled trades, according to the report, which examined 124 occupations ranging from electricians and HVAC technicians to mechanics, construction workers and industrial machinery mechanics.
Only Arizona, Utah, Alaska, Idaho and Nevada had higher skilled trades employment growth between 2019 and 2025.
And that growth is expected to continue. The report projects skilled trades employment in Alabama will grow another 8.1% from 2024 to 2034.
Alabama also appears to be attracting workers from other states. The report estimates Alabama loses about 4,900 skilled trades workers each year, but gains 5,900, leaving a net gain of 984 skilled trades workers through interstate migration each year.
The state’s skilled trades workforce is younger than those in most states. About 21% of Alabama skilled trades workers are age 55 or older compared to 24% nationwide.
Struggles
Nationally, however, the report found employers are struggling to find enough workers to fill skilled trades jobs.
The report estimates about 1.7 million skilled trades job openings will need to be filled each year through 2035, including new jobs and jobs left open when workers retire or leave an occupation.
Training programs, meanwhile, are producing about 55 workers for every 100 workers needed, according to the report.
Alabama was not among the nine states where researchers found demand for skilled trades workers currently exceeds the supply of newly trained workers. Neighboring Georgia and Florida were among those states.
Highest need
The report lists which of the skilled trades Alabama has the highest need:
- Industrial and refractory machinery mechanics,
- Tool and die makers,
- Stationary engineers and boiler operators,
- Avionics technicians and
- Aircraft mechanics and service technicians.
Median pay among all skilled trades workers is $52,000, compared to $57,000 nationwide. The pay spread across all skilled trades in Alabama from the 10th percentile to the 90th percentile is $36,000 to $77,000, which is about $5,000 less nationwide, according to the report’s authors.
Other recommendations
Researchers also pointed to problems getting students into — and through — training programs.
Nearly nine in 10 guidance counselors surveyed said they often recommend a four-year college degree to students, while just over half often recommend trade school and about one in four often recommend apprenticeships.
And while people are enrolling in skilled trades training programs, only about half finish them, according to the report. Researchers said transportation, child care and the need to earn a paycheck while training can make completing programs difficult.
Apprenticeship programs performed considerably better, with completion rates topping 90% in some high-quality programs.
The Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades was created this year by BlackRock, Carhartt, Ford Motor Co. and Google. Its members now include AT&T, Microsoft, Meta, NVIDIA, Verizon and other major employers.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Trisha Powell Crain and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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