Nvidia’s Huang, top leaders back skilled trades as AI takes office job
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the AI boom will create “six-figure salaries” for those building the factories that support it, becoming the latest leader to propose skilled trades as AI enters office jobs.
Huang, a leading voice on artificial intelligence, struck an optimistic tone about the impact of artificial intelligence on the labor market in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.
“This is the largest infrastructure construction in human history that will create a large number of jobs,” Huang said. “It’s great that the jobs are tradecraft related and we will have plumbers, electricians, construction and steel workers, network technicians and people installing and adjusting equipment.”
Huang added that he has seen a “pretty significant boom” in this field, with salaries nearly doubling.
“And we’re talking six-figure salaries for people building chip factories, computer factories, or AI factories,” he added.
The possibility of AI eliminating jobs dominated conversations at the WEF this week after the technology was seen contributing to nearly 55,000 job cuts in the US by 2025, according to December data from consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Amazon, sales force, Accentureand Lufthansa were among the companies citing artificial intelligence as a reason to lay off employees in 2025.
Artificial intelligence “has hit the labor market like a tsunami, and most countries and most businesses are not prepared for it,” International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Tuesday.
But Microsoft’s 2025 study found that blue-collar jobs are the least likely to be automated and therefore safer from layoffs and layoffs. The roles specified ranged from phlebotomists to assistants, painters, plasterers and marine engineers.
The research, which analyzed data from 200,000 conversations with Microsoft Bing Copilot between January and September 2024, focused on how much users seek help from the chatbot to complete a task. Professionals who do physical work with people or machines were least likely to trust AI.
“Everyone should be able to earn a great living. You don’t need to have a PhD in computer science to do it,” Huang said.
Continue vocational training
Roxana Mînzatu, European Commission Vice-President for social rights and skills, quality jobs and preparedness, told CNBC in a chat at the WEF that young people need vocational training to secure these blue-collar roles.
“There are many job offers in the professional field. I talked to the semiconductor industry, which produces communication chips. They are looking for 75,000 people with vocational training, that is, technicians. [and] different types of degrees,” Minzatu said.
Asked about AI eliminating entry-level roles and making it harder to enter the job market, he said: “I’m not that worried about the younger generation being able to have the right skills for that.”
Meanwhile, blue collar jobs look like this too It’s more attractive to Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, in part because of the high cost of earning a bachelor’s degree in the United States. CNBC Make It calculations in 2025 showed that the annual cost of attending a public four-year university increased by nearly 30% between 2011 and 2023.
“There are approximately 2 million fewer students at a traditional four-year university than in 2011.” Niche TremperA senior economist at payroll and benefits platform Gusto told CNBC Make It at the time.
In the first quarter of 2024, Generation Z made up 18% of the workforce. According to the Ministry of Laborbut it accounted for almost 25% of new hires in skilled trades jobs that year, According to Gusto.
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