AI concerns push Gen Z toward the trades: Report

As AI threatens the future of many traditional career paths, more workers are pursuing the skilled trades. 

What’s happening: Home services platform Thumbtack last week released its third annual Future of the Skilled Trades Report, which draws from two surveys: One of 1,000 U.S. young adults aged 16-30, and another of 1,495 contractors. Based on the responses: 

• More than 80 percent of the Gen Z respondents believe AI will eliminate many traditional entry-level jobs.
• Nearly half are learning or seriously considering a skilled trade.
• 82 percent feel the skilled trades offer better long-term job security than many office jobs.

Yes, and: It’s not just Gen Z. Workers are entering the trades from other fields.

• Among contractors with less than two years in the trades, 38 percent previously worked in a corporate or other white-collar career, with 26 percent entering the trades following burnout and a desire for a career reset.

Between the lines: The trades aren’t running from AI. 

• Among contractors with less than two years of experience, 52 percent use AI routinely. Of those with 20+ years of experience, more than a quarter do. 
• Only three percent of the professional respondents said that AI replacing tradespeople is their biggest business concern. 
• “Instead,” the report says, “they’re focused on making sure workers develop real expertise before relying on AI (29 percent), preserving craftsmanship in a tech-driven era (24 percent), and helping customers understand the value of human expertise over AI-generated tips (33 percent).”

Of note: With contractors facing both low-cost competition and price-sensitive customers, Thumbtack also analyzed metro areas to see where homeowner demand is most intense and which cities have the fewest pros per capita. 

• It found that the best places for skilled trades contractors to be busy and profitable are Washington, D.C., followed by Charlotte and Atlanta. 

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