RED WING, Minn. — This Labor Day, Red Wing Shoes is shouting out skilled trades and the people who work them by launching its "Trades-Made" campaign.
"A building, a house, a train, a closet, clothes, paper, the Internet, water, air, a car, a chair, a computer," a narrator says in a video posted ahead of the holiday. "When you think about it, everything is trades-made."
Headquartered in Red Wing, the company has been crafting durable footwear for trade workers since 1905. To symbolize that commitment, it has added the words "Trades-Made" to its logo, with physical installations of the badge at stores in Hopkins and Red Wing.
Chief marketing officer Dave Schneider says over the last week, Red Wing Shoes also reached out to businesses from various sectors to participate, and now more than 15 companies have added the badge to their logos, too.
"We'd like this to be a bit of a movement, if you will," Schneider said. "Brands like Melvin Windows, Northern Tool, Winnebago, Toro. A lot of really great brands here in the Twin Cities."
It comes during a widespread workers shortage exacerbated by the pandemic. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation's workforce participation rate is 62.80%, meaning 37.2% of eligible people who could be working are choosing not to work.
Skilled trades staffing agency Skillwork reports the ratio of baby boomers retiring to workers replacing them is 5:2.
"There are five people leaving the skilled trades for every one that's coming into the skilled trades, so we see that as a bit of a crisis," Schneider said. "We need to make these types of jobs appealing to folks."
Over the weekend, Red Wing Shoes also illuminated the names of real trade workers onto iconic buildings in Brooklyn, Dallas and L.A.
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