It’s 2019 and the robots haven’t taken over...yet. Despite wild internet theories and predictions that robotics and automation would take jobs away from Americans, especially in the labor and trades, the United States is actually looking at a large skills gap in the trades and an even larger number of unfilled jobs.

By some accounts, there are nearly half a million1 more jobs available in the skilled trades than workers with the skills to fill those roles, and that number is expected to rise to two million within a decade. These are good-paying jobs that are accessible through an apprenticeship or two-year degree, and many of these jobs have salaries that start out higher than jobs associated with traditional four-year college degrees. One would think that people would be lining up for these jobs... but they’re not.