Randstad CEO: College career path “over” as skilled trade get 30% pay bump

Source: CNBC

“The days of going to college to secure a lucrative career are over, as skilled trade workers have seen a 30% wage bump in the past few years, the CEO of the world’s largest recruitment firm told CNBC. Sander van’t Noordende, CEO of Dutch staffing giant Randstad, recommended the skilled trades career track to young people in an interview on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box Europe’ on Wednesday. … Specialized skilled trade roles are now offering salaries that compete with traditional office jobs, with wage growth up 30% in the U.S. in the past four years, up 21% in the Netherlands, 18% in Germany, and 9% in the U.K, according to Randstad’s latest data shared with CNBC.” (05/20/26)

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/20/ai-skills-randstad-college-trades-jobs-pay-bump.html