Concerns about a lack of job-ready skills have dominated workforce debates, but Mike Rowe, CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, is pointing to another crisis: a diminishing desire to work.
“The skills gap is real, but the will gap is also real,” said the 63-year-old former TV host in a recent interview with Fox Business.
According to him, 6.8 million “able-bodied men” are not just unemployed but not even seeking employment. “That’s never happened in peacetime,” he argued.
Here’s why he believes America’s famous work ethic is gradually eroding.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that women’s participation in the workforce has remained relatively stable since the early-1990s. However, men’s participation has steadily declined, dropping from 86.6% in 1948 to 68% in 2024.
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), the participation rate for men in their prime working years (ages of 25 to 54) has fallen from 98% in September 1954 to 89% in January 2024.
Notably, 28% of these men said they were not working by choice, validating Rowe’s claim that the desire for employment has diminished. However, the survey also found that 57% of prime-age men cite mental or physical health issues as barriers to working or job-seeking, suggesting that many are not as “able-bodied” as Rowe assumes.
Additionally, 47% of these men cite a lack of training and education, obsolete skills, or a lacklustre work history as major obstacles to employment. Fortunately, Rowe has a solution for this specific group.
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Expanding opportunities for skills training could help bring some men back into the labor force.
Through his foundation, Rowe has given away $8.5 million in scholarships since 2008, supporting more than 1,800 men and women enrolled in skilled trades programs across the country.
“My goal with mikeroweWORKS is not to help the maximum number of people,” he told Fox Business. “It is to help a number of people who comport with our view of the world and are willing to go to where the work is. Who are willing to demonstrate something that looks a lot like work ethic here in 2025.”