BlackRock Global Insights

The Bid Ep 252. The Infrastructure Buildout and the Skilled Trades We’re Missing

Full episode description:

Skilled trades are becoming one of the most important — and overlooked — drivers of the global infrastructure boom. As trillions of dollars flow into energy systems, transportation networks, telecoms, and AI data centers, the constraint is no longer just capital — it’s labor. The scale of the infrastructure buildout is historic but delivering it depends on the availability of trained workers.

In this episode of The Bid, host Oscar Pulido is joined by Claire Chamberlain, Global Head of Social Impact and President of the BlackRock Foundation, and Sandra Lawson, Managing Director in Global Corporate Affairs, to explore why skilled trades are central to the next phase of infrastructure investing. With an estimated $85 trillion in global infrastructure investment needed over the next 15 years, demand for electricians, HVAC technicians, grid specialists and plumbers is accelerating.

Claire and Sandra explain how apprenticeship-based career pathways offer paid training, competitive wages and benefits, and the prospect of long-term financial stability — while also highlighting the growing supply-demand imbalance in the labor market. The conversation explores how employers, unions, policymakers, schools, and philanthropy can work together to expand training capacity and modernize workforce development. As megaforces like AI and infrastructure reshape capital markets, human capital will be just as critical as financial capital in determining long-term economic success.

Key insights from this episode:
Why skilled trades are becoming a constraint in infrastructure build-outs
How apprenticeship programs create earn-and-learn career pathways
What the $85 trillion infrastructure opportunity means for labor markets
Why AI and infrastructure are increasing demand for specialized workers
How collaboration among employers, unions schools, and philanthropy can expand training capacity and put more people on a path into the middle class
What success looks like for workforce development in an infrastructure-driven economy

Keywords: Skilled trades, infrastructure investing, workforce development, capital markets, AI infrastructure, megaforces, economic growth, energy transition

Sources: “On the record: Infrastructure and the opportunity in skilled trades”, BlackRock 2026

Written Disclosures In Episode Description:

This content is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or a solicitation. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the listener. Reference to any company or investment strategy mentioned is for illustrative purposes only and not investment advice. For full disclosures, visit blackrock.com/corporate/compliance/bid-disclosures.

<<TRANSCRIPT>>

Oscar Pulido: The world is entering what could be the largest infrastructure buildout in modern history. Trillions of dollars are needed to modernize aging roads and power grids, expand energy systems, and build the digital backbone needed to support AI and electrification. But this cycle looks very different from past infrastructure booms. The challenge isn't just sourcing funding to finance projects, it’s finding the workers to build them.

Sandra Lawson: So, we estimate that the world needs about $85 trillion in infrastructure investment over the next 15 years. That's a lot! When we look at US labor department analysis, they project the jobs in skilled trades that are related to infrastructure are going to grow at about 5% over the next decade.

Claire Chamberlain: We think this is a great opportunity for philanthropy because it allows philanthropy to be an early mover, patient capital to basically help innovate and pilot new approaches to training. Because we know that we're at a point in time where we have to both increase the capacity for training people in these fields, but we also have to accelerate the training itself.

Oscar Pulido: As demand accelerates, a quieter constraint is coming into focus. The skilled workers needed to build, operate, and maintain this new infrastructure from electricians and welders to HVAC technicians and grid specialists. Labor is emerging as one of the most critical and overlooked inputs into the global infrastructure buildout.

Welcome to The Bid, where we break down what's happening in the markets, explore the forces changing the economy and finance. I'm Oscar Pulido.

Today I'm joined by Claire Chamberlain, Global Head of Social Impact and President of the BlackRock Foundation and Sandra Lawson, a managing director in Global Corporate Affairs, who has analyzed the importance of labor to the infrastructure buildout. We'll explore why skilled trades are becoming central to the infrastructure story, what investors should understand about the current state of the skilled labor market, and what's necessary to realize the benefits of infrastructure investment.

Claire and Sandra, thank you so much for joining us on The Bid.

Claire Chamberlain: We're delighted to be here. Thanks for having us.

Sandra Lawson: Thanks for having us.

Oscar Pulido: So, Sandra, we've been hearing about infrastructure a lot, both on The Bid and just in the headlines. This seems like a persistent theme that is very much related to the build out of AI, across the global economy. Why are we at this moment for infrastructure right now? How big is the opportunity we're talking about? And maybe tell us a little bit more about your findings of what it means for the labor market.

Sandra Lawson: It's an incredibly exciting opportunity. It's an opportunity for investors, it's an opportunity for the world economy, and it's an opportunity for jobs. So, we estimate that the world needs about $85 trillion in infrastructure investment over the next 15 years. That's a lot. It's a lot very quickly, and it is needed for lots of different things.

So, yes, there's AI data centers, but also the world needs traditional infrastructure, things like telecom systems and transportation and energy enormously. Energy demand is growing at a pace that's not been seen since the last century.

So, all of this needs to be built out and it's in developed and developing economies as well. And infrastructure benefits people in so many ways. It drives higher economic growth, it drives higher productivity, it creates a better quality of life, it also creates jobs. And that's something we've really focused on in our research is the jobs opportunity. And not just jobs, but skilled jobs, things like electricians and plumbers, and pipe fitters and HVAC technicians, jobs that require a lot of training and certification and credentials and that are really good jobs. And so, I think this is a really exciting opportunity across the board to invest in infrastructure and build up new opportunities in the world economy.

Oscar Pulido: So, these jobs you mentioned, electricians, plumbers, this was a theme that came up actually in Davos when we were there for the World Economic Forum, which is that the AI buildout requires an infrastructure buildout and you're touching on some of the skills that are needed. Maybe just elaborate a little bit more, is this going to be a longer-term trend? Is this something that you've noticed pretty recently? How should people be thinking about this?

Sandra Lawson: It's really a long-term trend. When we look at US Labor Department analysis, they project the jobs in these skilled trades that are related to infrastructure are going to grow at about 5% over the next decade, and that's very well ahead of the 3% national average.

And actually, when we look at these projections, we think that they're pretty low given that they were done before this big AI data center boom took off. It's been something that's been in the pipeline for a little while but is really going to come to the fore over the next decade.

Oscar Pulido: Claire, maybe to bring you into the conversation. Help us think about the nature of these jobs. Are these steady jobs, is there a particular characteristic about them that differentiates them from other sources of labor in the market? I think Sandra has alluded to the fact that they're going to grow at a faster rate than the average, but what's your observation of what's going on here?

Claire Chamberlain: Sure. I would start by saying that these jobs are good jobs. They're demanding jobs, but what makes them good jobs is multi-dimensional. First, they are jobs that are generally acquired through apprenticeships. And apprenticeships offer the opportunity to be paid while you learn.

So, the upfront investment by an individual is quite manageable. Second, as Sandra is describing, these are in-demand jobs and what in-demand means is thriving wages. And generally, they, these jobs also come with important benefits. Benefits that relate to health, benefits that relate to building retirement savings. And we know how important those benefits are as building blocks over a lifetime towards greater financial security. And finally, these are jobs that actually aren't just jobs. They are careers. They put people on a pathway that allows them to advance their skills over time. The dynamism of the economy and this pull, this demand pull that Sandra has mentioned is really one that allows for and drives greater and greater levels of skilling along the way. And that offers people a real progression over a lifetime.

Oscar Pulido: You touched on this a little bit actually in your response, but I'm thinking back to one of the prior times that you and I spoke where we were talking about how to set individuals up for better security, a more secure financial future.

And I think you mentioned that these apprenticeships, they pay while you're learning the skill. So, can you talk a little bit more about how this development in the labor markets ties to some of the topics that we've talked about in the past about securing a more, about having a more secure financial future?

Claire Chamberlain: Sure. I think one of the things that we think is particularly exciting about this opportunity is the ability to, while people are being trained and being paid for that training, to also begin to embed exposure to financial education and tools that allow people to start saving from their first paycheck. We think that there really is a way to bring people along and that begins as early as year one in an apprenticeship program.

Oscar Pulido: And Sandra, why is the topic of jobs and the skills that are required to help with the build out of the AI economy, with the build out of infrastructure, why is that coming into focus right now?

Sandra Lawson: It's really about supply and demand. And demand is outstripping supply. So, as Claire said most of these jobs require apprenticeship training, which is great because you learn and earn at the same time. But it's usually years of hands-on training, along with some classroom training. So for an electrician, for instance, it takes about four years to become licensed. And when you look at the pipeline there really don't seem to be enough people in these apprenticeship programs to meet the projected demand. So, there's a potential, if we can't get more people into these programs pretty quickly that labor becomes a constraint on economic growth.

Oscar Pulido: Sandra, why is there that mismatch between supply and demand? Have we just seen people move away from these career tracks in recent years and now they're coming back to it? Or why is it that right now you see that mismatch?

Sandra Lawson: One explanation is this view that everyone should go to college, and that the returns to college education are high enough that everyone should go, and increasingly people are starting to move away from that view. They see the very high costs of college education; they see really high debt levels. And so, the appeal of programs that let you learn and earn at the same time and have a job that sets you up for this very strong financial future is really growing, people are recognizing that more and more.

Oscar Pulido: So, Claire, as president of the BlackRock Foundation, how do you think about the role of philanthropy in helping people prepare for the future of work, particularly in connecting workers to opportunities and skilled trades and employers to the talent that they need?

Claire Chamberlain: Well, this goes back to this demand and supply imbalance. Which is fairly significant right now and probably will be for the near term as Sandra was describing. And so, we think this is a great opportunity for philanthropy because it allows philanthropy to be an early mover, patient capital to basically help innovate and help pilot new approaches to training. Because we know that we're at a point in time where we have to both increase the capacity for training people in these fields, but we also have to accelerate the training itself.

And so, we've been seeing that there is an openness to new approaches by both union training providers, non-union training providers, community colleges, even high schools. And philanthropy can really be an accelerant in beginning to see what can work and bringing partners that weren't necessarily coordinated, helping them achieve greater coordination to drive against the gap that we're currently witnessing.

Oscar Pulido: So, is the role of philanthropy to help finance the investment in the training that is required? I think that's part of what you're saying.

Claire Chamberlain: Yeah. Without expecting a market return, the role, the opportunity for philanthropy is to try something maybe that hasn't been tried. An example would be to think about training capacity, not at a local level, but at a statewide level. And so, when you see mismatches between demand driven by data center builds in rural areas and labor supply in urban areas. How do we bridge that mismatch? And so, that's where philanthropy can play a role.

Oscar Pulido: We've talked a lot about AI and infrastructure with our guests now for the last couple of years. These are mega forces that are impacting the global economy. And it feels like a lot of times we're talking about things like data centers and capital expenditures, and now we're talking about people, which I think is unique, that there are people that are helping put this infrastructure in place and perhaps then we need people with particular skills to help continue to put this infrastructure in place. What does success look like when we invest in skill trades alongside infrastructure? I know we have this view of what the world's going to look like when we have a lot of data centers and a lot of AI, but what is it going to mean for the labor market when we make this investment in skilled trades?

Claire Chamberlain: So, I think success looks like more people on a pathway into the middle class, more people on a pathway to retiring with dignity, which, as we know, is a core promise of BlackRock. And so, I think because of this demand right now we're seeing parties like community colleges being reformatted and rewired so that their funding models are now about the success, the economic success of graduates, rather than enrollment stats. We see employers being willing to invest in their local communities, in their backyards to home grow the talent that they need to accomplish and deliver against the projects that are on the horizon. We see high schools willing to open and think, rethink, or think differently about curriculum and even exposing students as early as middle school to some of these career opportunities. So, I think what success looks like is people thinking differently in order to seize this opportunity and in order to share the economic prosperity that will come with it more broadly.

Sandra Lawson: If you step back a little bit success also looks like a really reinforcing cycle that you need people now to invest in infrastructure. But once the infrastructure is there, it creates a better life for people, like better mobility, a freer exchange of ideas and goods, free exchange of labor. And so, we are both creating jobs now but also setting people up for a better future more broadly.

Oscar Pulido: It's interesting. I just want to come back, Sandra, to something that you said before, which is that I think we've lived through a very long period of time where you go to school in high school and you go to college and you go to a four year university, and that's still a great path for a lot of people, but it's also a more expensive path for some folks. And I think what you're saying is that there's other ways to think about entering the workforce and starting to save for retirement and contribute to the economy. So, if you're a parent and you have kids and you're thinking about what path they should take, how should they be thinking about the choices that their kids could make at some point in the future?

Sandra Lawson: I think the question is really, is college the right choice for your child, or your student? Because it isn't for everyone. And personally, I think it's good that we're moving away from this idea that everyone has to go to a four-year college and spend a lot of money and not necessarily gain skills that are immediately useful in the workforce. So, if the sort of skilled trades that we're talking about are interesting, and people like creating things, then I think apprenticeship is a real, should be a real serious possibility for parents and for their children to think about as a way to put yourself on the path to a really good financial future.

Claire Chamberlain: Building on your question, I think the notion of choice and choice that comes with exposure. So, I think if young people are exposed earlier to a set of choices which may include skilled trades, I think that is something that maybe hasn't been as forthcoming and that is this, these are kinetic occupations, right? Meaning you are using hands and eyes and ears, and you are experientially occupying the role.

And I think for some people that is a very powerful fit. And so, I think if alongside some of the more traditional offerings for students, if they also were given some of these other choices and where they see role models and successful livelihoods. One of the things I didn't call out earlier when I talked about that these aren't just jobs, but they're careers. Somebody can become a licensed electrician and then a master electrician, and then they can become a contractor. So, there's the beginnings of, ostensibly a successful small business which can over time become not so small.

Sandra Lawson: The high school component of this is really important the exposure question, that you want high school students to see people in these trades being successful and really enjoying what they do. Being able to talk about it as a very promising career path, I think that probably hasn't gotten the attention that it needs in recent years.

Oscar Pulido: Sandra, Claire touched on the role that philanthropy is playing in helping to facilitate this growth in the skilled trades, but what other stakeholders need to come together to help solve this problem?

Sandra Lawson: It seems like pretty much everyone, in addition to philanthropy we need governments and employers. And unions and schools and colleges and even high schools. And the good news is there is a lot of collaboration that's already underway. So, you see a lot of innovative projects like local employers teaming up with local community colleges so that they have the labor force on site, essentially on hand, skilled in what they need for the jobs in the local economy. That's really powerful. We also see unions teaming up with colleges so that people can earn while they learn, in terms of apprenticeship training but also gaining college credits. And that really sets them up for a lifetime of success.

So, there's a lot of focus on collaboration to create the labor force of the future that's going to build the future for us. And BlackRock's convening a summit in Washington to look at exactly these questions. We're going to have policy makers from around the country. We're going to have labor leaders, CEOs, people who are really able to dig into these questions and talk about what's working and where the opportunities are ahead.

Oscar Pulido: And again, I think I touched on it before, but I feel like a lot of times when we hear about AI and infrastructure, the world's moving fast, it's technology, it's data centers, it's inanimate objects. And I think part of what you've done in this conversation is to help humanize this trend a bit and really point towards the jobs opportunities that could be created in the skilled trades and how many individuals could benefit as the economy is going through this transformation.

Thanks for shining a light on something that maybe hasn't been getting a lot of attention, but I think is going to be getting more attention in the future. And Sandra and Claire, thank you for doing it here on The Bid.

Claire Chamberlain: You're welcome.

Sandra Lawson: Thanks for having us.

Oscar Pulido: Thanks for listening to this episode of The Bid. Next week, Alex Brazier joins me to talk about emerging market investing trends. Don't forget to subscribe to The Bid wherever you get your podcasts,

ALT ENDING: Thanks for listening to this episode of the bid. If you've enjoyed this episode. Make sure you're subscribed so you can check out a follow-up episode where we'll discuss the learnings and outcomes of the infrastructure summit in Washington D.C.

<<SPOKEN DISCLOSURES>>

This content is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or a solicitation. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the listener. Reference to the names of each company mentioned is merely for explaining the investment strategy and should not be construed as investment advice or recommendation. For full disclosures, visit blackrock.com/corporate/compliance/bid-disclosures.

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