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Tyshae Shields, 24, is a first-year commercial painting apprentice at the Finishing Trades Institute of New York. “It’s a very straining job,” she said, but added that community college had overwhelmed her.
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Karsten Moran for The New York Times
In Search of Career Prospects, Young New Yorkers Turn to Construction
Facing a bleak job market and fears around artificial intelligence, young workers are lining up for a shot to develop skills and secure jobs in the trades.
Tyshae Shields, 24, is a first-year commercial painting apprentice at the Finishing Trades Institute of New York. “It’s a very straining job,” she said, but added that community college had overwhelmed her.
Credit...
Karsten Moran for The New York Times
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By
Emily Lang
Photographs by
Karsten Moran
Reporting from New York City. Emily Lang spoke with dozens of hopeful and current construction apprentices, and attended a training for commercial painters and glaziers.
April 8, 2026
On a recent evening in Queens, Eddy Alvarez realized he needed to change his plans.
He was scouting out the office of the insulators union where he and two friends planned to pick up applications the next morning for an apprenticeship, a yearslong program that provides mentorship and hands-on construction training. Fifteen hours before the 8 a.m. call time, a line was already forming.
Mr. Alvarez, 25, said he called his friends, co-workers at a T-Mobile store in Queens, and told them to come to the building. By 5:30 p.m., they were in line with a tent — a smart decision since by morning, it was drizzling.
Image
Glazier apprentices at the institute earlier this month. Those who land a union apprenticeship begin their careers with years of training.
In recent weeks, lines like these, often filled with young people who are eager for careers in construction, have been snaking around union offices. Citing poor job prospects, the costs of college and fears that artificial intelligence may soon take over their jobs, dozens of hopeful and current apprentices said that a job in the trades seemed like the best route for their futures.
“
That’s one of the things that’s more attractive to me to do this, because it’s some kind of job that, for the moment, A.I. can’t do,” John Pallares, 29, said of construction work, while in line with Mr. Alvarez. He was concerned that their sales jobs at T-Mobile would become obsolete within only a few years.
About an hour after the application distribution began, a coordinator signaled to those still in line that they should head home. The union was already out of its 100 applications, for about 15 spots. Last year there were available applications for days, according to one coordinator. For Mr. Alvarez and his friends, the night camping in line paid off. They secured applications and will begin preliminary assessments later this month.
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