SECOND SHIFT · FROM THE FIELD
New York, New York · Construction · Career change and apprenticeship
Original reporting: Steven Yoder, The Hechinger Report (also published in The Washington Post) · September 30, 2026
Meagan Acevedo, 33, of New York City, graduated from Pace University in 2019 with a degree in human resource management and spent nine years working in retail, The Hechinger Report’s Steven Yoder reports. At her last two jobs, at a vitamin store and then an online watch retailer, she saw her tasks whittled away, first by self-checkouts and then by AI-powered chatbots. Both companies downsized, and she was laid off.
Looking for work that automation couldn’t easily absorb, Acevedo started a union apprenticeship with UEWA Local 363-A, training to become an industrial construction electrician. She is now in the second year of the six-year program and makes about $23 an hour plus full benefits, including employer-funded health insurance and a pension, according to the Report. Median pay for electricians in the New York City area is $38 an hour, the story notes.
The switch has trade-offs. Acevedo has to be at her job site by 5:30 a.m. and lifts 75-pound spools of wire and pieces of equipment. She told the Report that adjusting to the physical toll was “kind of rough.”
The story, also published by The Washington Post, follows several young workers retraining for hands-on jobs out of concern about AI.
Location Decision takeaway
Acevedo’s path runs opposite the usual script: a four-year degree first, then a paid apprenticeship. For regions short on electricians, with data centers, grid upgrades and industrial projects all competing for them, workers displaced from retail and customer-service jobs are a recruitable pool, and earn-while-you-learn structures with benefits are what make that switch affordable. That is our analysis; her account and the pay figures are as reported by The Hechinger Report.
Second Shift tells the stories of people building what’s next through new skills, new careers and second chances. From the Field items are curated from credited reporting, with Location Decision’s perspective. Location Decision Originals are independently reported by our team.
Curated by Location Decision. Originally reported by Steven Yoder, The Hechinger Report, September 30, 2026.
This item was sourced and drafted with AI assistance and reviewed under Location Decision’s editorial standards. Second Shift tracks workforce outcomes to inform our broader editorial analysis. All reporting belongs to the credited journalists; read the original story for the full account.