Is it time for trade school?
- Joanne Jacobs
- Dec 31, 2025
- 2 min read
Gen Z workers are turning to skilled trades jobs, reports Sophia Hernandez for NBC6 in South Florida. While Gen Z workers are 14 percent of the workforce, they were nearly one in four hires in skilled trades jobs last year, according to Gusto.
Arturo Rodriguez, 20, is apprenticing as an industrial electrician with Horsepower Electric after completing lineman and electrical classes at Miami Dade College North. He takes pride in his work. "If I do something and I, I wired it up or I do it from scratch, I enjoy doing that and knowing that I did that on myself or with the help of somebody," he said. He's getting paid while he trains.
Forty-two percent of Gen Zers are working in or pursuing a blue-collar or skilled trade job, including 37% of those with a bachelor’s degree, according to a May survey by Resume Builder. Men are much more likely than women to choose blue-collar careers.
"Many are concerned about AI replacing traditional white-collar roles, while trade jobs offer hands-on work that’s difficult to automate," says Resume Builder’s Stacie Haller. “Additionally, many grads find their degrees don’t lead to careers in their field, prompting them to explore more practical, in-demand alternatives.” Those who never tried college said they want to start earning quickly and avoid college debt.
Massachusetts' vocational-technical high schools have become wildly popular, reports Roshan Fernandez in the Wall Street Journal. Enrollment is up and wait lists are long.
Some students go directly to the workforce, but most enroll in community colleges to earn trade certificates or four-year universities.
Daryel Estrada, a plumbing student at Worcester Tech, will study business management at a community college so he can open his own plumbing practice, he told Fernandez.
Jillian Hecking, who plans to become a veterinarian, is getting experience as a veterinary-assisting student at Nashoba Valley Tech.
More students from affluent families are applying to Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School in upscale Lexington, Mass., said Ed Bouquillon, the now-retired superintendent. Parents' attitudes have changed.
Of course, the pro-trade school pus, like much of education policy, suffers from a lack of personal leadership. No one is every going to believe that a Trump relative or a child of a Republican member of the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, any state legislature, or any conservative think tank will ever attend a trade school. As long as trade schools are for "others, the policy will not be fully effective.
Trade education and common sense go hand in hand! Years ago a Professional Engineering friend told me that no one should go to College or university until they have learnt a trade!