What the Trades Don't See (But We Do) | Aaron Witt, BuildWitt

Aaron Witt of BuildWitt has visited job sites on 5 continents. His take: the trades' biggest problem isn't negative perception — it's invisibility.

Most people in the trades blame the younger generation. They say Gen Z is lazy, college-obsessed, or soft. But Aaron Witt — who showed up to his first construction job at 18 with zero background — says the real problem is structural. The industry built its entire training model around workers who grew up in the trades. Now a whole generation is showing up without that baseline knowledge, and the industry is yelling at them for it instead of teaching them.

Aaron Witt is the founder of BuildWitt, a media and workforce development company that travels the skilled trades world — from Arctic diamond mines to Saudi Arabia — to tell the stories of the people keeping the world running. He's spent 13 years inside the industry as an outsider, and that vantage point gives him a clear view of what the people inside the fishbowl can't see.

This conversation is for employers who keep losing workers within 90 days, for 17-year-olds trying to figure out their path in an AI-disrupted world, and for anyone who wants to understand why the trades pipeline is broken — and what actually fixes it.

IN THIS EPISODE

(00:00) – The Fishbowl: Why being outside the trades gives Aaron and Andrew a clearer view of what the industry is missing.

(06:00) – Not Even in the Race: The trades don't have a perception problem — they have an invisibility problem, and the industry doesn't realize the difference.

(15:00) – 5 Continents, One Truth: How BuildWitt went from Instagram posts on a road construction site to visiting a diamond mine near the Arctic Circle — and what Aaron sees that's the same everywhere.

(26:00) – The Old Model Is Dead: Why the "trial by fire" approach to training worked for 40 years — and why applying it to today's workforce is a guaranteed way to lose people.

(36:00) – Who Raised Gen Z?: The real retention crisis, the 50% turnover rate for workers under 25, and why the generation complaining about Gen Z raised them.

(47:00) – Trades vs. AI: Why data centers can't be built without skilled trades, why white-collar work gets disrupted first, and what Aaron would tell a 17-year-old today.

Key Takeaways

The trades don't have a perception problem — they have an invisibility problem. The next generation isn't choosing against the trades; they never knew the trades were an option.

The old training model was built for workers who grew up around the trades and arrived with 15 years of background knowledge. That worker no longer exists — and the industry has to build a new model for the worker that does.

Over 50% of workers under 25 who enter the trades leave within months. Before blaming Gen Z, employers need to ask: Do these workers know what day one looks like? Do they have a mentor? Do they have a reason to stay?

Skilled trades may be the safest career bet in an AI-disrupted economy. Law gets disrupted before welding. White-collar offices get disrupted before equipment operation. Every data center being built right now requires skilled trades workers.

About the Guest

Aaron Witt is the founder of BuildWitt, a media and workforce development company dedicated to the skilled trades and civil construction industries. He started BuildWitt in 2018 by sharing photos on Instagram from a road construction job site — and has since traveled to over 30 states annually and across five continents, visiting construction and mining operations from the Saudi desert to a diamond mine near the Arctic Circle.

Aaron's work focuses on changing how the next generation sees the trades — not through marketing spin, but by showing the raw, real, unfiltered reality of the work. BuildWitt produces workforce training content, storytelling media, and leadership resources for the companies building the world.

Keywords

skilled trades, workforce development, civil construction, Gen Z in trades, trades career path, trades workforce shortage, equipment operator, welding, HVAC, apprenticeship, trades retention, Aaron Witt, BuildWitt, SkillsUSA, Andrew Brown, Lost Art of the Skilled Trades

RESOURCE LINKS

Aaron Witt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronwitt/

BuildWitt Website: https://buildwitt.com/

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