- Despite fears of an AI-induced entry-level job bloodbath, Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison reassures Gen Z there are opportunities to find jobs—as long as they are willing to give up dreams of corporate life: “Stay close to the customers because you will always have employment opportunities to grow,” he said.
Anxiety about an AI job bloodbath is everywhere. As generative-AI tools like ChatGPT advance at lightning speed, even high-skilled roles like software engineering appear to be at risk.
But according to Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison, the reality of AI’s impact on the workforce is far more grounded.
“AI isn’t going to fix a hole in your roof,” Ellison, chief executive of the home-improvement retail giant, said at Business Roundtable’s CEO Workforce Forum earlier this month.
“It’s not going to respond to an electrical issue in your home,” he said. “It’s not going to stop your water heater from leaking.”
Particularly for Gen Z, who are facing an uphill battle thanks to slowed hiring among recent graduates, Ellison reassures them there are job opportunities—as long as you are willing to give up dreams of the corner office.
“When young people come to me and they desire to work in the corporate office, my advice to them is, Stay as close to the cash register as you can,” he said. “Stay close to the customers because you will always have employment opportunities to grow.”
And while his words may sound ironic considering how technology is the reason for self-checkout, Ellison is a believer that mastering the skills AI doesn’t have is a wise move.
In conjunction with his Business Roundtable appearance, Ellison is set to co-chair the organization’s new Skilled Trades Initiative in part to help grow the pipeline of skilled trade workers. The Lowe’s Foundation has committed $50 million over the five years to support the development of 50,000 tradespeople.
“Investing in skilled trades is vital to address America’s workforce shortage…” Ellison said in a statement to Fortune. “These professionals are entering fulfilling and well-paying careers, not just jobs.”
Rising demand for skilled trade workers
Ellison’s comments come at a time when there’s a fierce debate among business leaders about the impacts of AI, especially on young talent. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned the technology could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs, and Amazon recently announced it will soon cut its corporate workforce thanks to the technology. However, OpenAI chief operating officer Brad Lightcap is more optimistic.
“We look at the problem and opportunity of deploying AI into every company on earth, and we have yet to see any evidence that people are kind of wholesale replacing entry-level jobs,” Lightcap said on the Hard Fork podcast.
Some business leaders agree one growing pathway to success is the skilled trade industry. After all, construction, utilities, as well as oil, gas, and mining are the fastest-growing industries for new grads, according to LinkedIn’s 2025 Grad Guide.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said earlier this year electricians in particular are so desperately needed the U.S. could run out of them, thanks in part to growing demand and the deportation of skilled workers.
“I’ve even told members of the Trump team that we’re going to run out of electricians, that we need to build out AI data centers,” Fink told an audience at CERAWeek, an S&P Global energy conference hosted in Houston. “We just don’t have enough.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for plumbers (6%), roofers (6%), and electricians (11%) is expected to grow over the next decade—and each rate is faster than the national average of all occupations.
However, a McKinsey report suggests the need for young people to pursue critical trade skills is even more dire due to the aging of existing skilled trade workers; in fact, hiring for critical skilled roles could be more than 20 times the projected annual increase in new jobs between 2022 and 2032.