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Generation Z increasingly choose trade school over college for six-figure jobs that cannot be replaced by AI
The ‘Toolbelt Generation’: Gen Z skipping college for trades Gen Z has earned a new nickname for taking on more skilled trade positions as more young people are reportedly skipping college in favor of trade schools. Vocational training programs surged 16%, the highest level since 2018, with some calling Gen Z the “Toolbelt Generation.”
Nicholas Giordano, of Suffolk Professor Trade School, said, “Trade schools definitely offer more job security right now because there’s a lot of unknowns with artificial intelligence and you don’t want to invest in a career track with a degree program where you don’t even know if you’re gonna have a job by the time you graduate.” Construction studies in particular have gone up 23%. Other popular trades include heating and air conditioning systems and vehicle maintenance.
Trade Schools Rise Among a New Generation Why pay up to $100,000 for one year of college when you can make that same amount working a technical job that doesn’t require a college diploma?
ChatGPT might be hailed as the next holy grail, but there are some things it can’t do, such as install a carpet or fix a home’s plumbing. Yet today, there’s a shortage of skilled trade talent, with applications for technical jobs dropping by 49% in 2022 compared to 2020.
In response to this, Thumbtack, a platform for hiring local professionals including handymen, plumbers, and electricians, surveyed 1,000 young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 across the United States and, in a separate survey, 800 U.S. adults employed in a skilled trade, to get a sense of what we can expect for the future. Here’s what they found. Gen Z has a high opinion of skilled trade: 73% of the young adult survey respondents said they respect skilled trade as a career, putting it second only to medicine (77%). They’re exploring it for themselves: 47% were interested in pursuing a career in a trade. And more than 80% said there are benefits to a skilled trade over a desk job, with the top benefits being a more flexible schedule, a faster educational path to working, a less expensive education and less debt, and the ability to be your own boss. Another 74% said they believe skilled trade jobs won’t be replaced by AI.
