Dive Brief:
- The Lowe’s Foundation is building on its previous workforce development efforts and doubling down on its goal to bolster the trades’ labor pool with new partnerships.
- The foundation has partnered with a who’s who of U.S. businesses to launch The Building Futures Skilled Trades Coalition, with the goal of training 1 million new skilled trades workers by 2035, according to a Tuesday announcement.
- It’s the latest nationwide initiative designed to boost the craft workforce. Earlier this summer, tech titans Meta and Google invested a collective $165 million into the trades pipeline via their own programs in an effort to meet labor demand.
Dive Insight:
Corporate leaders include Nvidia, AT&T, Bank of America, Carrier, General Motors, DEWALT and Duke Energy, among others.
Via the coalition, the Lowe’s Foundation and member firms will aim to change the perception of skilled trades careers, invest in and scale proven training methods and establish measures that will demonstrate program progress from training to employment, per the announcement.
The construction labor shortage is no mystery to the industry at large — in 2026 alone, Associated Builders and Contractors estimated the need to attract nearly 350,000 new workers to keep up with current construction demand. Contractors building in the booming data center sector have tried to sweeten benefits offerings to attract and retain workers.
Indeed, project owners in the data center space are getting in on that recruiting effort in a similar vein to Lowe’s. In June, Meta created the American Workforce Academy, a $115 million plan to provide free skilled-trades training for eventual employment on data center jobs. Soon after, Google promised $50 million to support labor unions and construction associations, with a set goal to reach 300,000 workers across 20 states.
The Lowe’s Foundation-led coalition is backed by more than 75 member firms, per the announcement, which include entities across the skilled trades ecosystem. In addition to the corporate leaders, other coalition members include the National Association of Home Builders, the National Center for Construction Education and Research and SkillsUSA and Carhartt.
“The next industrial revolution won’t be built by algorithms alone. It will be built by the millions of skilled trade professionals who power, connect and move this country forward,” said Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s chairman and CEO, in the announcement.
