The following article appeared in The Guam Daily Post:
A stark warning about artificial intelligence wiping out a large share of today’s jobs, possibly within the next 15 to 18 months, landed hard at last month’s 2026 Career and Technical Education Summit, leaving Guam educators wrestling with a question that cuts to the heart of what they teach and why.
The two-day event, held Feb. 20 and 21 and organized by the Guam Association for Career and Technical Education, drew teachers, industry leaders, and students for panel discussions and breakout sessions aimed at tightening the link between Guam’s classrooms and its workforce needs.
But it was a pointed remark from Roseann M. Jones, economist and dean of the University of Guam’s School of Business and Public Administration, that stopped the room. She cited research suggesting AI could eliminate a substantial portion of existing jobs within a year and a half.
“There was some discussion that has been made that AI would potentially eliminate over a large portion of the jobs as we see them today. That they would be eliminated within the next 15 to 18 months,” said Charlie Hermosa, GuACTE president, recounting Jones’ remarks. “And so that is the reality of what we’re facing.”
Yet even as that warning hung in the air, other panelists at the summit were describing something that seemed to pull in the opposite direction: a growing demand for skilled tradespeople and facility operators to build and run the infrastructure that powers AI.
“We have industry partners who are talking about building data centers and that they need the workforce to be able to do hands-on,” Hermosa said. “Electricians, (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), plumbers, (and) managers just to be able to manage the data centers.”
That contradiction became one of the summit’s most talked-about threads. Technology may be reshaping the labor market, but it still runs on skilled hands.
The first evening brought a panel discussion at UOG’s School of Business and Public Administration lecture hall. Saturday’s session moved to Guam Trade Academy, where teachers spread into smaller breakout groups for one-on-one exchanges with industry speakers.
James Stanger, chief technology evangelist for CompTIA and a member of the Forbes Technology Council, delivered the keynote and offered a global perspective on where career and technical education is working and where it is not. Hermosa described Stanger as someone who travels the world studying CTE programs in different countries.
“He gave us a little bit of a reality check as far as things that are working in different areas things that are not working,” Hermosa said. “The shift that we’re seeing happen in the workforce, the shift that we see happening in education where potentially it’s more of a one-on-one learning than a large classroom setting.”
Alex Benham, director and general manager of the Guam Additive Materials and Manufacturing Accelerator, also known as GAMMA, spoke during the panel and led a breakout session. Hermosa said the information Benham shared on additive manufacturing was well-received.
Teachers left with more than notes. Hermosa said the overall feedback pointed toward one clear request: more industry partners in the schools, meeting students directly.
“The teachers really want to continue to follow up on some of the discussions that were had,” he said. “One being getting more industry partners to get involved, bring them out to the schools, present them to the students, and develop that relationship.”
Hermosa credited GuACTE’s board for pulling the event together and thanked the panelists for their engagement. He also noted that Jim Oehlerking, a former IT&E chief executive officer who now oversees data center operations, participated as a panelist though his name was not on the official flyer.
The summit was the second under Hermosa’s leadership. GuACTE plans to compile the feedback, share it with attendees and those who missed it, and then hold a follow-up session within six months.
“We’re trying to take all the feedback that we received,” he said. “We’re trying to get all the information that we got and really put it together.”
The association also wants to push CTE program development across more schools, pointing to new offerings coming to UOG, including mechanical engineering and construction management degrees, along with continued growth at Guam Community College.
“We can’t just sit back and wait for these things to happen,” Hermosa said. “We got to be able to act on them now.”