As high school graduations begin this week in the region, it’s worth noting that May is Professional Trades Month, highlighting the career opportunities available in these much-needed positions.

Michigan alone has nearly 518,300 positions and about 40,600 annual openings in the professional trades projected by the year 2032, according to a news release from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

“The hardworking Michiganders in professional trades careers build and maintain the infrastructure that ensures we all have clean water, reliable energy, safe places to live and work, and stable roads to drive on,” Whitmer said in the release.

Professional trades careers are essential to Michigan’s economic strength and community well-being, according to a LEO news release. These roles — spanning agriculture, construction, education, energy, health care, hospitality, information technology, manufacturing, mobility and outdoor recreation — are foundational to the state’s infrastructure and services.

Many of these high-demand, high-wage careers do not require a four-year degree and have pathways that focus on credentials, certificates, on-the-job training and registered apprenticeships.

Registered apprenticeships are career training programs in which apprentices gain paid work experience, related classroom instruction and a national industry-recognized credential upon completion. These programs often lead to careers with a median one-year-after-completion wage of $80,700 among those who finished training as of 2024, according to the news release.

Several resources are available online that support career awareness and exploration for those interested in pursuing a new or different professional opportunity.

The state’s official career exploration resource, Pathfinder, allows users to explore careers and identify educational opportunities throughout the state. Pathfinder, at https://pathfinder.mitalent.org/, helps Michiganders make informed choices about educational and career options and plans to reach their goals. This free online tool uses current labor market information, wage data and other metrics to best match users and their skills with career paths and jobs.

Those ready to find their first, next or another job should go to Pure Michigan Talent Connect, the state’s online platform for connecting job seekers and employers, at https://www.mitalent.org/ to create a free account.

LEO and the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics have also created resources to help Michiganders follow career and labor trends. These include Michigan’s Hot 50 report, which covers high-wage, in-demand careers that show a favorable mix of long-term job growth, projected annual job openings, and median wages; Michigan’s Career Outlook report, which provides multiple lists of in-demand occupations by education and training requirements; and Regional Career Outlook reports, which provide breakdowns of career outlook data in each of the state’s 10 regions.

Professional trades workers will play a significant role in accomplishing the recently announced Michigan Statewide Infrastructure Workforce Plan, a framework for creating and enhancing job opportunities and training programs to meet Michigan’s critical infrastructure needs, according to LEO.

To learn more about supports available to connect Michiganders and businesses with opportunities and resources, go to Michigan.gov/AllAccess.