Fox Business · Sep 28, 2026
With Ed Brady, President and CEO of Home Builders Institute · Ryan Payne, President of Payne Capital Management
There are 300,000 empty jobs in the skilled trades, Ed Brady said, from plumbers and electricians to painters and heating and cooling technicians.
The usual explanation for expensive housing is mortgage rates. Brady said the bigger constraint is labor, and that the data center boom is now drawing contractors away from home construction.
"We need to educate parents and educators and legislators that these are six figure jobs."
Ed Brady, President and CEO of the Home Builders Institute, on Fox Business. HBI is a national nonprofit that has trained people for the skilled trades for more than 50 years, and it trains service members on 10 military bases.
The full segment is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 5 arguments that matter.
Key Takeaways
300,000 jobs in the trades are empty, and the gap built up over 20 to 30 years
Data centers are pulling skilled workers away from residential construction
Trade jobs pay six figures, he said, and parents and schools need to hear it
Workers coming out of high school can make $30 an hour
The industry is losing more workers than it brings in
HBI placed 87% of its transitioning military students in career jobs last year
1. A Gap 30 Years in the Making
The anchor opened by noting the 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 7% the week before, and said a lack of construction workers is one of the main causes of higher home prices.
Students were steered away from the trades
"Yeah. I mean, this has been a 20 or 30 year problem that we have forced all of our young people into higher education." — Ed Brady
Brady said HBI has trained skilled workers for 50 years, but the gap kept growing.
"But with 300,000 empty jobs in the trades today, plumbers, electricians, painters, HVAC technicians, we're really challenged with building the infrastructure, building the commercial bridges, roads, and homes in this country today." — Ed Brady
