Today’s graduates are entering a job market in flux, as AI-driven automation casts doubt over the future of many professions, both skilled and low-skilled. This uncertainty is encouraging many Gen Z workers to look again at blue-collar careers, which are often viewed as more resilient and bulletproof to technological change.
42% of Gen Zers are exploring or pursuing blue-collar careers
According to a recent report from Resume Builder, 42% of Gen Z workers are considering or already pursuing blue-collar paths, and of those, 37% are university graduates.
For decades, higher education was seen as the gateway out of manual work and into white-collar roles with better pay and clearer career paths. But that perception is shifting, and blue-collar jobs, once dismissed, are now attracting renewed interest.
Sectors like construction, manufacturing and transportation are considered less vulnerable to automation, largely due to the need for human supervision and frequent on-the-job recalibrations. Even where machinery is used, human workers remain a vital part of the process. Jobs in fields like education, marketing, sales and customer service are more likely to feel the effects of the AI takeover early on. That reality is pushing some graduates to abandon the careers they once studied for.
Even with college degrees, 46% of Gen Z men are opting for skilled trades. For women with degrees, it’s 27%. About 30% pointed to long-term job security as the main factor, and 16% said their degree didn’t take them where they thought it would.
The employment expectations of Gen Z are increasingly defined by a desire for flexibility, independence and less conventional work arrangements. According to the survey, blue-collar roles and the financial independence frequently associated with these well-paying trades are resonating with many.
Are we on the brink of a white-collar recession?
Some experts, including Anthropic AI’s CEO Dario Amodei, are forecasting a troubling recession in entry-level white-collar employment, which further supports why Gen Z workers are so convinced that blue-collar jobs represent the future. Careers once known for high pay, exclusivity and greater autonomy are now declining in value, and the jobs that were once considered the gold standard may no longer hold that distinction.
Amodei is just one of many leading AI executives urging leaders and policymakers to stop downplaying the potential for widespread job cuts in industries such as technology, finance and law. Amodei has recently reaffirmed the need for total transparency with employees of all sectors regarding the scale of the challenge ahead.
“Most of them are unaware that this is about to happen,” Amodei said in a recent interview with Axios. He also mentioned in the interview that half of all entry-level white-collar jobs could be replaced by AI in the next one to five years, which would lead to unemployment rates of 10%-20%. He added, “It sounds crazy, and people just don’t believe it.”
AI trends risk widening the gender gap and dissolving female-led industries
Another significant concern is AI’s disproportionate effect on female-dominated industries. The United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) recently updated its findings on this subject, indicating that AI is likely to deepen gender disparities in the workforce. In “high-income countries,” such as the U.S., the risk of “high automation potential” for women has climbed from 7.8% to 9.6% in just two years, compared to 3.5% for men.
The ILO emphasizes that many women in prosperous countries work in administrative, clerical and data entry roles—jobs that AI is set to automate early on. Male-dominated sectors such as construction, agriculture and transport are less vulnerable to automation, given that these jobs require substantial human input and supervision, particularly in areas involving safety and regulatory compliance.
AI is simultaneously building and breaking job markets
Although AI’s advancement has raised fears of widespread job displacement and a move toward universal basic income, the tech boom underway may also fuel the growth of entirely new professions—many yet to be discovered. In January, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report projected that AI could create over 170 million new jobs worldwide, spanning industries such as health care, social sciences and technology—sectors where men and women generally share opportunities more equally.
While there is much discussion about what AI will become and what it will create, there is also an unnerving amount of uncertainty about how accurate our predictions really are. While white-collar industries face tough times ahead, these advancements carry the opportunity to inspire a fresh appreciation for skilled trades, essential blue-collar roles and the jobs that humans still, and likely always will, do best.
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