Project Bootstrap helps Wolverine celebrate skilled trades
23/10/2019
A second annual survey on this subject, commissioned by Wolverine, is now complete and shows that millions of skilled jobs in trades in the US currently sit empty, in large part, the footwear company has said, because of low awareness and misconceptions.
At the same time, according to the survey, 72% percent of the people who make up the next-generation workforce says they don't want a desk job.
“Not knowing enough about the skilled trades is a large [reason] why people aren't choosing this career path," said Andrew Shripka, vice president of marketing for Wolverine, on releasing the results of the new survey. "The reality is that these jobs offer exactly what today's young people are looking for. They can get out from behind a desk and find success where the work they are doing is making a lasting, meaningful impact.”
However, 65% of survey participants said they still worry they will need to choose between following their passions and making a living. An initiative Wolverine calls Project Bootstrap, entering its fifth year, focuses on eliminating stereotypes and showing how things you're passionate about can be found in trades careers.
As part of Project Bootstrap, and in partnership with Manhattan's soon-to-open Torch & Crown Brewing Company, Wolverine has selected three new Team Wolverine members, awarding each person $15,000 to help them succeed in their work.
The three are Mike Betros, who is using car-making skills to carve out a new career in brewing beer at Torch & Crown, Michelle Gooding, who left a desk-job to return to work with her sisters on her family’s hop farm in Idaho, and tap systems technician Shane McConnell.
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