Aug 21, 2026 · 51 min · 18 segments
Every generation gets handed the same advice: go to college, get a degree, land a stable job. What if the smartest career move today looks nothing like that?In this episode, Tom sits down with Jason…
Jason AltmireGuestTom KuhnHost
Riley BurrGuest
It obviously affects our members and the employers that work with the schools that are our members.
And Riley, of course, with our research foundation, is crunching numbers and thinking and putting out reports on this issue all the time.
And at some point, About a year and a half ago, we decided we really ought to write a book on this because no one has put it all together.
At the same time, employers are unable to find qualified workers to fill the demand that exists across many professions.
And you wonder, how can both of those things be true at the same time? And then the role that our schools, the trade schools and career colleges play in expanding that pipeline and filling the gap.
So the book covers not just those issues, but Riley wrote a great chapter on international comparisons, what other issues.
countries are doing on Gen Z and the younger generation and what they're thinking about and why the careers in the trades are a more acceptable path for them than it was stigmatized in the past or previous generations.
What is the experience like? What fields would be appropriate? And we want it to be used by guidance counselors and teachers.
So we really tried to cover everything in one source, which we didn't think anybody had done before.
The book really should be the required reading of so many different subsets of the population.
And so it's no surprise that you've had so many people get behind this and some of your endorsements and what have you.
It obviously affects our members and the employers that work with the schools that are our members.
And Riley, of course, with our research foundation, is crunching numbers and thinking and putting out reports on this issue all the time.
And at some point, About a year and a half ago, we decided we really ought to write a book on this because no one has put it all together.
At the same time, employers are unable to find qualified workers to fill the demand that exists across many professions.
And you wonder, how can both of those things be true at the same time? And then the role that our schools, the trade schools and career colleges play in expanding that pipeline and filling the gap.
So the book covers not just those issues, but Riley wrote a great chapter on international comparisons, what other issues.
countries are doing on Gen Z and the younger generation and what they're thinking about and why the careers in the trades are a more acceptable path for them than it was stigmatized in the past or previous generations.
What is the experience like? What fields would be appropriate? And we want it to be used by guidance counselors and teachers.
So we really tried to cover everything in one source, which we didn't think anybody had done before.
The book really should be the required reading of so many different subsets of the population.
And so it's no surprise that you've had so many people get behind this and some of your endorsements and what have you.
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