RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — With the swipe of a pen, some Wake County high school seniors became soon-to-be employees for different companies on Thursday morning.

“I will be working for the Hendrick Collision Center in Durham,” said high school senior Will Morrison. “I’m a body technician over there.”

The Vernon Malone College and Career Academy hosted a career signing day, inviting several businesses who hired Wake County high school students to work for them after graduation.

“We’re starving for people in the trades right now,” Mark Bray, the President of ACR Supply Company, said. They were just one of the businesses represented at the signing day on Thursday.

Business leaders there say they couldn’t be more excited to welcome this new generation of employees to their businesses, offering full-time employment as soon as they earn their high school diploma.

“Most schools are pushing kids into college, which is good, but college isn’t for everybody and there’s a lot of opportunities in the trades,” Bray said.

Students who signed on to the workforce say knowing what their future holds and having employment secured after graduation is a relief.

“To be able to have the expectation set for me, and to have them see the caliber of person the school has been able to help create to go into that company is awesome,” Morrison said.

Leaders in Wake County Public Schools say they are always looking for more business leaders to partner with to find more jobs for more students.