- As tech CEOs predict AI will wipe out millions of roles, about 1,300 Whole Foods employees have been trained in traditional crafts like fishmongering to cake decorating. Other retailers like Lowe’s also have their own trade initiative. The retailer says artisan work is “vital” during a talent shortage and mass automation of human tasks. And it could provide unemployed Gen Zers—who can’t get a corporate gig but hate the idea of becoming a tradie—with an alternative career path.
As AI rapidly disrupts white-collar roles, many workers are scrambling to find a career that is safe from complete automation. Now, skilled traditional trade work is on the rise—and billion-dollar grocery giant Whole Foods Market is reviving artisan skilled apprenticeships.
