New Report Defines 135 Skilled Trade Occupations, Revealing A Gap of 1.3M Workers and 3 Openings For Every New Worker Trained

MOSCOW, Idaho (August 25, 2026)— Lightcast, the global authority on labor market intelligence, today released a new report, “Defining the Skilled Trades: A Data-Driven Blueprint for the Future,” that establishes a standardized definition of the skilled trades, identifying 135 occupations that can now be consistently analyzed across industries, regions, and workforce systems.

Despite growing concern about shortages of electricians, technicians, construction workers, and other skilled professionals, the skilled trades have historically lacked a shared definition. That has made it difficult for employers, educators, policymakers, and workforce leaders to compare data, identify talent gaps, and coordinate investments for America’s essential workforce.

“The impending lack of skilled trades workers has been a resounding issue in our economy for years,” said Ron Hetrick, Principal Economist at Lightcast and a contributor to the report. “These are people that we rely on every day to create new buildings, maintain our infrastructure, and thousands of other tasks that many of us often take for granted. Now that we have a clear, workable definition for understanding which workers fall into this category, we can understand the supply and demand trends affecting these workers and lay the foundation to bring more workers into these jobs in the future. They’re desperately needed now, but critically needed later.”

The new framework from Lightcast defines skilled trades as hands-on, in-person occupations that do not require a four-year degree but do require specialized education, training, certification, apprenticeship, or experience. The resulting list of 135 occupations provides a practical foundation for studying and strengthening this critical workforce. Previously, a comprehensive definition was difficult to produce because the trades are spread across many different occupational categories.

Using that definition, the report finds:

• Approximately 20 million US jobs are in the skilled trades, representing 9% of total employment.

• Employers face an estimated 2.1 million skilled-trade job openings each year.

• There are roughly three job openings for every person completing a relevant training program, creating an estimated talent gap of 1.3 million workers.

• Seven of the 10 most in-demand skilled-trade occupations already face significant labor shortages.

• Retirements account for roughly 40% of annual openings, adding significant replacement demand.

• More than one-quarter of skilled-trade workers are age 55 or older, suggesting demographic pressures could deepen the talent shortage.

Skilled-trade jobs pay a 31% wage premium (or approximately $13,000 more annually) than the median for other occupations that do not require a bachelor's degree. Roughly one in three skilled-trade workers move into a manager or executive role as their next occupation.

Demand is also being intensified by major investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, reshoring, and AI. Data center growth alone has added a net 315,000 skilled-trade workers over the past five years, according to the report, putting additional pressure on an already tight labor market.

“Understanding the skilled trades labor market is a high priority for all kinds of growth and investment, which means that leaders and decision makers need high-quality data at their fingertips to guide those decisions, and Lightcast is uniquely positioned to provide it,” said Matt Walsh, Director of Research. “Because we have over 20 years of experience organizing and analyzing labor market intelligence, we were able to use our existing taxonomies to come up with a new way to understand this vitally-important field. Hopefully, our definition can give employers and workforce developers a practical way to connect workers with high-paying jobs.” 

At the same time, these occupations offer substantial economic opportunity. Skilled-trade jobs pay a 31% wage premium over the median for other occupations that do not require a bachelor’s degree, and many create pathways into management, advanced technical roles, and business ownership. More than 70% of skilled-trade occupations also have an AI exposure score below 30%, demonstrating high job security and low risk of automation.

The report outlines strategies for employers, education providers, and public-sector leaders, including aligning training with regional demand, expanding apprenticeships, improving career awareness, preparing for retirements, and using labor market data to direct workforce investments..

The full “Defining the Skilled Trades: A Data-Driven Blueprint for the Future” report and list of 135 skilled-trade occupations are available from Lightcast here.

About Lightcast

Lightcast provides the world's most comprehensive labor market intelligence, empowering smarter decisions for businesses, education institutions, and governments worldwide. With a database spanning over 3 billion job postings, 1.2 billion career profiles, and 100+ government sources, Lightcast delivers unparalleled insight into skills, jobs, companies, professional profiles, and workforce trends across 165 countries. Our proprietary taxonomies, advanced AI, and expert guidance transform complex data into clear, actionable intelligence.

Recognized as one of America's Top WorkTech Companies by TIME, Lightcast is regularly cited in top news outlets as the leading source of data and insights on AI, skills, and demographic shifts in the labor market. 

Lightcast has offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, and India. Learn more at lightcast.io