The countdown to the SpaceX (SPCX) IPO has finally come down to T-minus one day, and it’s going to be a shocker how many people are going to be made incredibly rich as investors witness just how high the oversubscribed IPO goes. Who knows? It might even mint the world’s first trillionaire in Elon Musk, given his massive stake in the company.
With so much promise for the space economy and the ever-expanding TAM (total addressable market), from space tourism to asteroid mining and lunar manufacturing facilities, and orbital AI data centers, there’s a lot to digest from the latest SpaceX Roadshow slides and the latest conversation with Elon Musk.
What’s more, though, isn’t that the wealthy stand to get even wealthier as SpaceX touches down, but how SpaceX will spend its money as it looks to level up its ambitions. Undoubtedly, as the AI infrastructure boom takes off along an exponential curve, there’s going to be a need for a lot of skilled trades workers who are more than willing to roll up their sleeves. Indeed, we’ve heard a lot about how AI could automate white-collar work. But what’s more is that the future of the blue-collar economy might also be forever shifted by the rise of AI.
The rise of the blue collar
Most notably, the AI buildout has shone a bright light on the skilled folks (think welders, machinists, technicians, just to name a few) whose services will be needed to get the job done. Indeed, the whole “learn to weld” may very well be the new “learn to code” as the AI revolution enters its next stages.
With an aggressive hyperscaler in Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction) recently kicking off a $115 million America’s Workforce Academy initiative to train technicians and electricians to get those data centers in place, it certainly feels like big tech is more than willing to spend on blue-collar labor to get things built, crush the chokepoints in the AI buildout, and get the revolution moving in the fast lane. Whether Meta’s 5-week program and guarantee of a job winds up being the new standard for firms looking to put the foot on the gas remains the multi-trillion-dollar question.
Either way, there’s an immense demand for specialized human labor. While a five-week training program won’t be right for everyone (SpaceX’s hiring standards are far different, focusing on those with core skills and a wealth of experience), I do think that the blue-collar economy is getting a shot in the arm at the hands of AI.
What about robotics?
Of course, questions linger as to how long it will take before robots and embodied physical AI come for blue-collar work as well. Optimus robots show incredible promise, and they’re being manufactured at a rapid pace.
At what point do robots start assembling other robots at full speed? Time will tell, but until then, humans are going to need to step in and bridge the gap. Whether we’ll start seeing white-collar-esque salaries for tradesworkers, though, remains the big question.
Add the ambitious Terafab into the equation, and it’s clear that a lot of people are going to need to go hardcore to get everything built on schedule. Of course, all of this building will probably take the structural supply-demand mismatch to the next level. After all, blue-collar labor was already relatively scarce before the AI buildout kicked off. I guess it’ll all come down to how fat the checks written by the tech titans will be and how quickly Americans can pivot to meet the need.
Sterling Infrastructure rockets at the hands of AI
As an investor, how’s one to capitalize on what could be a blue-collar boom? Sterling Infrastructure (NASDAQ:STRL) has already rocketed 575% in two years, thanks to the AI boom. It’s a trickle-down winner from the rise of the AI revolution.
After a shocker of a Q1 earnings beat and a ton of AI-driven backlog to look forward to, it’s clear that construction plays might be where it’s at, as blue collar rises from the AI boom as an unexpected winner. Shovels are going to be going into the ground, and with that, it’s no mystery as to why it’s hot to be in a corner of the market that’s been seen as anything but sexy.
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