'Dirty Jobs' host Mike Rowe: Gen Z electricians are making up to $280,000 at AI data centers

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"Dirty Jobs" creator and host Mike Rowe says it's time for blue-collar jobs to get the respect they deserve.

"The electricians that I interviewed and met two months ago in a data center in Plano, Texas, all under 30 years old, all making $240,000 to $280,000 a year, all with as much overtime as they want, none with any debt, all three of whom were poached three times in the prior 18 months," Rowe said in a new episode of the Power Players with Brian Sozzi podcast (video above; listen in below).

"So I'm just making that point that the stigmas and the stereotypes that need to be overcome for parents and kids to feel good about exploring these careers, they're real," he added.

Rowe is the ultimate advocate for America's skilled trades. Best known for hosting the smash-hit Discovery Channel series "Dirty Jobs," Rowe built a career highlighting the grittiest corners of our workforce.

Now, through his MikeroweWORKS Foundation , he's solving the skills gap head-on by funding millions in vocational scholarships, creating what he calls the AI-proof career pipeline for next-generation plumbers, welders, and electricians.

The foundation has distributed over $11 million to support more than 1,800 recipients nationwide. This year, Rowe scaled his operational footprint by securing a $10 million partnership with the US Department of Defense to launch the Build Freedom Initiative, aimed at rebuilding the country's domestic defense manufacturing workforce.

He said he started his foundation to spread the word on good manual labor jobs.

"Our country went into a recession [in 2008]. And that's the first time that I remember thinking, wait a second, every single day, the headlines are looking at how many people are unemployed. But everywhere I was going on 'Dirty Jobs,' it was help wanted signs," he recalls.

"So there was this other narrative in the country, and it didn't have to do with the number of people who were out of work," he said. "It had to do with the number of opportunities that weren't getting filled."

The essential economy — which includes construction, utilities, agriculture, transportation, oil and gas, and equipment manufacturing — accounts for $12 trillion of the gross domestic product, 95 million jobs, and 3 million businesses.

This area of the economy continues to experience labor shortages as older workers age out and Gen Z views jobs such as loading trains as too demanding. Meanwhile, some existing workers lack the skills to stay current as AI becomes embedded throughout the supply chain.

According to a PRT Staffing survey, 17.4% of manufacturing companies report worker shortages. PRT projects that 3.8 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled over the next decade.

One cause of the shortage is the disappearance of shop class from schools, Rowe said.

"And now, decades later, we're going, man, this is so weird, nobody wants to do this work," he said. "And then you've got the stigmas and the stereotypes and the myths and the misperceptions that are surrounding these same jobs."

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor, host of the ' Power Players With Brian Sozzi' podcast and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi , Instagram , and LinkedIn . Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.

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