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Of any purchase of $100 or more. That's promo code Brian. But it's my privilege to bring in two people I respect among the most in the world, Dina Powell McCormick, president now of Meta. And they have a big announcement because she is with Micro, the CEO of Micro Works Foundation, one of the most respected people in the country who doesn't, who's never worn a tie, according to reports. Never worn a tie.
Dina, I knew how important. Mike, in my opinion, we've known each other for a while. I've never seen you as upbeat as you were in Pennsylvania, I think it was, when you sat on a panel with Senator Dave McCormick and you talked about the need for blue-collar workers and how it's going to interact with the future. That all plays into your big announcement today, right, Dina? It sure does.
And Brian, thank you so much for having us on. It is such a special honor for me to be with Mike, someone, as you say, I have admired for so many years. You know, folks today are talking about the American workforce, but it really started with Mike and Mike Row Works Foundation 18 years ago. He has been saying these are American heroes on a different kind of front line, which is building America. And at Meta, we have truly long believed that everyone deserves a pathway to being part of this economic revitalization and transformation.
It's just been there are too many barriers. Today, we need 500,000 new electricians in the United States over the next four years. And yet, awesome people who could be candidates for that just can't make it there right now for a few reasons. If you're a Uber driver, if you are a grocery clerk, if you're a waitress like how I paid my way through college waiting tables, you can't take a week or two or three or four off to get the training. And so, what America's Workforce Academy does is provide individuals like those extraordinary Americans with paid training.
a credential that they'll have for life, and a guaranteed job on a meta-work site. And we just really believe that during this transformation, no one in America should be left behind, that the future is for everyone. And because of these data centers, especially, right, Mike, that are going to forge meta into AI and everything else, you need electricians, you need plumbers, you need pipe fitters to do that.
So tell me how this program is going to work.
Well, I mean, yeah, the data centers are a big deal. And it's worth saying, too, that it's not like they just popped out of nowhere on account of AI. Data centers have been around for decades, and they're at the root of every form of modern connectivity that we know of. It's just a question of scaling them. And the challenge is to do it yesterday.
We're in a race. China plays for keeps. And this is a really important part of building out. What Larry Fink has described as a $10 trillion Infrastructure. We have the money and we have the will, but we just don't have the skilled labor in place.
And Brian, you know, I'm a broken record on this. We've been talking about it for years. But the thing that's exciting for me is to see consequential companies in the Fortune 500 really paying attention to this. And you'll see leaders emerge in the coming weeks and months. I'm delighted that Meta's doing this because to your point, what they've done is they've taken the friction out of the transaction.
And so If you're a young man or woman who is honestly trying to figure out if there's a future for you in the skilled trades, but balancing that against transportation costs, training costs, tools, various certifications, it's daunting, you know, and the barrier to entry has always been a problem.
So I think the private sector is going to play an enormous role in correcting that. I think. Meta, whether they intended to or not, has thrown down a gauntlet. There is an on-ramp into these jobs. They've greased the skids.
And I guarantee people are listening to this right now and doing the math and coming to the conclusion that these are opportunities.
So, Dina, you launched Level Up. It's a smaller training program focused on fiber installment. In the first seven days, you received 35,000 applications for 1,000 openings.
So demand is not the problem. You also, if I'm right, have put a $115 million commitment into the first year for people to train, knowing that I'm training, instead of hoping to get a job, they will get a job out of it. Absolutely. You know, honestly, Fiber Up is, or excuse me, Level Up is what showed us the real demand. That was a program very focused on an important role on any infrastructure site today, a fiber technician, the woman or man who is actually laying the fiber piping.
In four weeks with Level Up, you got the training. on site and as Mike said we paid for all the costs we paid for you to come to the site in Ohio to we've just launched this to get the on-site training you graduate with a license as a fiber technician and as I said earlier a job at a meta site but we understand if you might want to work in a different site too you might take that credential and go elsewhere a thousand we thought was a good number to just really start and test the program when we launched Brian we could not believe that we got 35,000 applications and it really is how we then went to mark and the leadership at Meta and said there's something really big here and we've got to scale it and America's Workforce Academy is Really attempting to do just that, working alongside of a number of partners. But I got to tell you something that I think will matter a lot to you. Not only do we actually have, as Mike has always said for years, a number of veterans who would like to go into these trades, I think of this in a very, I think, historic way. During World War II, America came together to literally physically build the arsenal that defeated tyranny in the world.
And we believe those American heroes are more needed than ever today because if we don't build the AI infrastructure required, we don't win the race in AI. And we let other countries take that advantage. And so we think these are the people that are going to help America win. Cheers to America's 250th birthday. Get 20% off your first purchase at FoxnewsWineshop.com with code FNRadio20.
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So Mike, help me with this. You have all these scholarships and you said, you know, four people to go to a trade school. And you said, I don't have enough people that want to get into the trades.
Now, Dean is coming out saying, I had 35,000 applications for 1,000 openings. What's changing or what about the calculus do I have wrong?
Well Nothing, really. It's just that there's not a playbook that's going to resonate in every state, every town, every community, and every zip code all at the same time. Part of what you're asking is a little bit out of my pay grade, but I've mentioned a terrific book to you before called Men Without Work by Nick Everstadt. He's a great economist. And he'll tell you that right now there are 6.8 million able-bodied men who are not only not working, they're not looking for work.
That's never happened in the history of our country, not in peacetime anyway. And so you've got a giant cohort who's waiting to be persuaded. At least some of them are.
So, you know, how do you talk to that cohort? How do you talk to the kid who's open-minded, but whose parents, God bless him, have it in their heads that the only path for them requires a four-year degree? How do you make that case, right?
So we have to come at this thing from a lot of different angles. The feds have a role to play. Private industry has a role to play. Guidance counselors and parents. What I love.
That What Dina is saying essentially is that we're going to put our thumb on the scale in this direction for once. For once, we're going to say, look, the future does belong to everybody. It's wide and it's vast, and you have options. But this idea. That going in one direction is going to doom you to a life of like turning a wrench or something.
That is. Over. The color of collars is over. This is a bold new world. Training and certification are on equal playing fields, if not even a little elevated than the traditional four-year rubric.
And as you know, Brian, that's you know, that's near and dear to me. And finally, too, what these guys are doing is a big part of the solution, but it's not the only way. Trade schools aren't going away, in my estimation. They're going to be apprenticeships and scholarships and fellowships. And the real headline that I hope you guys run with is that.
Is that Meta is essentially challenging every other grown-up company in this country to do in their own way.
Something that rhymes. That's powerful.
Well, and Brian, yes, sorry, go ahead. No, no, go ahead. I was just going to say, you know, one of the things that we're really proud of is that it's called America's Workforce Academy because it is bigger than Meta. And yes, we are proud to have launched this initial phase with a number of great partners. We want to have more partners.
We would be honored to work with more companies across the board. And many companies that we work with now have incredible programs, whether it's GM and Ford or BlackRock and Larry Fink and the leadership that he's doing. And so we are really excited to scale this in a big way with anybody that wants to work with us. And the National Urban League and Mark Moriol are going to be a nominating partner.
So we make sure people from all over are able to get into these trades. The women in trades, you know, there's an enormous what's the percentage, Mike, of women going into these fields? You know, it's funny. We were talking last night at dinner about this: that the national average, if you look at women in construction, it'll vary. From vertical to vertical, but in my foundation, and I don't know why this is the case, but we've got maybe 3,500 people we've assisted, and the percentage of women entering the welding trade.
Is shockingly high. We're at like 3x the national average. Don't know why, but to my earlier point, that's another cohort. And I'm telling you, they're ready to go. You just have to meet them where they are and make a more persuasive statement.
And Dina, you guys got to, you told me you had to be out right now, so I'm going to keep that in mind. But my last question to you is: how did you do it? I mean, I've known Mike for much longer, we've never had dinner. And you start a partnership, you're having dinner, you're talking casually, professionally. How did that happen, Dina?
Listen, I feel pretty honored and lucky. I've been a girl fan of Mike Rowe for some time. And I will tell you, and I will tell you, one of my daughters was there last night, and I felt so proud to introduce her to Mike because I hope that this generation of young people recognize the honor and dignity of work and recognize how much they need to respect the men and women that are in these fields, in these positions. And I just think it's really important to what Mike said that there is dignity today in every kind of field. Right.
And Dina, if you do decide to continue to work with Mike and you want him to do your commercial, he'll do it on an iPhone walking in a park.
So he comes very cheap. You watched him do these ads. I don't know how the hell he pulls this off. We are excited to support him. I mean, I'm sorry.
He's got a voice for radio and a face for T V, and that's like a pretty special combination.
Well, Brian, listen, man, I've got some time later today if you want to hit the In-N-Out Burger. Mike's fine. That's fine. I'll drive through. I'll drive us through.
Fantastic. You got it. You better. Thank you, Brian. Pina Pal, McCoy.
Thank you so much. Congratulations on the job, too. And of course, Mike Rowa was great to have you on. They have a great announcement. America's Workforce Academy.
