Data center CEO Dan Peyovich says skilled trades face structural labor shortage, with Dycom Industries now offering new hires two weeks of vacation on day one to attract Gen Z workers

By 2030, an estimated 2.1 million skilled trades jobs in the U.S. could go unfilled—with potential economic losses reaching $1 trillion annually—according to the U.S. Department of Education. This year alone, the construction industry is facing workforce shortages of more than 550,000 unfilled positions.

Dycom Industries, which builds telecommunications and utility infrastructure, now employs about 20,000 skilled workers after a $1.95 billion acquisition of a data center electrical contractor in 2025. New hires at Dycom automatically receive two weeks of vacation on their first day, and the company announced plans to build a 49-acre immersive training campus in Georgia.

Decades of education pipelines steering students toward four-year degrees, an aging workforce, and underinvestment in hands-on careers have left the labor pool less prepared than previous generations. Dan Peyovich, president and CEO of Dycom, hopes skilled trades become 'just as an attractive track as going through college' in his lifetime.