He is destroying jobs. Gen Z Has Found a Safe Haven.

Two Years ago, Zechariah Osburn Sat Down to Fill Out the Common Application for College. He dreaded Going to School and Sitting at A Desk All Day, But He’d Always Done Well, SO an undergraduate Degree SEEMED LIKE A NO-BRAINER. His parss hadd ited, too. But Staring Down the Application at Midnight One Night During His Senior Year, Osburn Decide to Scrap the Plan. “I felt like a fraud,” he tells with.

He didn’t know what kind of career he wanted, and didn’t have the money for College. Instead of taching out student loans and spending a few semeters partying and soul-searching, he decide to focus on growing his landscaping hustle into a full-time business. Now, at 20, He’s the Owner of Z’s Exterior Services, which does Lawn Care, Mulching, Power Washing, and Other LandsCaping Services in Northern Virginia. He’s Handful A Handful of Full- and Part-Time Employees and Has Plass to Continue Expanding. And, he Says, he still gets a taste of the College Experience desper he Visits his girlfriend.

It ‘swimming osburn is passionate about mulching, but he does love running the business, and it”s rewarding to make Customers Happy. “How Much Work You Put in Is How Much Return You’re Going to Get,” He Says. Studying for Hours and Pouring Tens of Thousands of Dollars Into a Deesn’t Always Yield the Same Results, he Says, as he hears about people on tears and thenry struggling to find work.

Many Gen Zers Areing The Ever-Rising COST OF COLLEGE TUITIONAlong With Railing Uncertainty in Maryy-Collar Career Fields, and Are CHOOZING AN Alternate Path.

Americans are Loising Faith in The ROI OF A COLLEGE DEGREE. In a 2023 Gallup poll, only 36% of respondents HAD A “GREAT DEAL” OR “QUITE A LOT” of confidence in the Higher Education System, Dropping from 57% in 2015. A Pew Research Study in 2024 Founds JUST 22% of Us Adults than Student had to take out loans to attached. Zomers Are Also Most Likely to Feel That Getting A Degree is a Waste of Time and Money, A 2025 Survey from Indeed Found. For Experian, The Average Gen Zer Has About $ 23,000 in Student Debt. That Load is Starting to Feel Heavier Now The Peks Gen Zers Most Want-Including Work-Life Balance, Financial Stability, and A Path To Becoming Their Own Boss -Are disappearing from White-Collar Jobs. Managers Are Calling Workers Back to the Office and dismantling The Career Ladder by assigning entry-level tasks to generate he bots and agents.

A survey from the Early Career Site Handshake Found That 62% of College Seniors Who Were Familiar with He Tools Said They Were at Least SomeWhat Concerned That Rising VIA AI AI AF Tech, Consulting, Recruiting, and Law are all at the risk of the Entry-Level Tasks Increasingly Gioven away to Gen He. Role for Recent College Grades “Deteriorated Noticeably” in Early 2025, with their umployment rate Jumping to 5.8%, up from 4.6% a year Ago, Accounting to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. President Donald Trump’s Tariffs Are Creating Uncetainy in the Market and Discouurying Employers from Hiring New Workers, and White-Collar Workers Are Feeling Stack in Their Role.

Meanwhile, Blue-Collar Jobs – some of which pay a stable six figure – Are starting to look more like an oasis.

The proportion of students at two-Yyar Colleges Focusing on Vocational Studies Compared to Other Associate Degrees GREW From About 15% in 2019 to Nearly 20% in 2024, Acciting to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The Fastest-Growing Jobs in the Country, for the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Are Wind Turbine Technicians and Solar Panel Installers, followed by roles in healthcare and some in tech, Like Data Analysts or Information Security Analysts. Jobs in Construction, Plumbing, Electrical Work, and Transportation are All Project to Grow Faster than the Avent Job-Growth Rate of 4% From 2023 to 2033.

Social media has really introded geni z to what working in new fields can be like.Jennifer Herrity

The Need for Workers in Renewable Energy, Commercial and Home Construction, and Public Infrastructure is Expective to Rise, Thanks to Like the Bipartisan Act and a Global Investment in New Energy Sources. Home Price Are soaring In part Thanks to Construction Worker Shortages, and Wages for Those Workers Are Up.

And just as Demand is increasing, a swath of skilled, baby boomer Laborers Are Getting Ready to Pack It Up and Retire. That will open up more gigs for People who want in these in-Demand, automation-proof roles such as hvac servicing, plumbing, and construction-and it’s unikly you’ll hire a robot to come your home’s electrical wireing anytime. In fact, many analysts predicts these Fields Could Experience Labor Shortages, which is good News for Gen Z.

And where Generate he is stagnating grown in industries like tech or consultingIT’S ACcelerating Growth for Young People Who Want to Start Their Own Businesses. Chatgt and it ILK have Become Always-On Assistants that Help Young Entrepreneurs automate Like Appointment Scheduling and Generating Email to Customers-and they don’t have to be put on payroll. And as the Digital-First Generation, Gen Z Doesn’t Need School to Train say on the Kind of Tech that can make these more efficient.

“They’re very use to work with technology; it’s part of their Daily Life,” Says Gary Specter, The Ceo of Sympro, which Makes Job and Project Management for Field Service and Trade Contracting Industries. Jobs. ”

For some, a blue-collar pivot would mean abandoning the college dreams laid out by parents, siblings, and countless coming-of-relationship Movies. As America’s Middle Class Grew, So Did the Drive for Higher Education. In 1970, JUST 11% of US Adults HAD A Bachelor’s Degree. By 2021, that Number has -selled to 38%, accorting to the US Census Data. Sending Kids to a University Became Less a Privilege and More a Given for Mryy Middle-Class Families. But that push Ignored other vable career pats and gave rise to a stigma Around Blue-Collar Work That Persists Today, nor Rising Tuition Costs Have Damnened the Appeal of the College Dream.

Ryan Daniels, 22, Left Behind College at the University of Florida AFTER HIS FRESHAN YEAR IN 2022 TO PUSUE HIS Pressure-Washing Business Full Time. “It was really shocking to people that was going to let that opportunity Go,” he tells. But he’s not alone in that shift. The Rate of Young People enrolled in College Dropped From 41% in 2012 to 39% in 2022, Accounting to the National Center for Education Statistics. Enrolment in College Peaked in 2010, but has SINCE DECLINED FROM 18 MILLION STUDENTS TO ABOUT 15.4 Million in 2021.

Getting Young People into the Trades will Still Take a Mindset Shift. In a 2023 Survey of US High Schoolers by Jobber, A Software for Home Professionals, 74% Said They Thoughts a Stigma AROUND CHOOTING SCHOOL INSTTEAD OF A FOUR-YEAR College, and 79% Said Their Parents wand say to go to go, only only, Their Parents Encoureded Vocational School. A Gallup Survey Found That Around 70% of High School Students Had Heard A Lot About College, while Than a Quarter Had Heard Frequently About Apprenticesespins and Vocational Schools. And it may be blue-collar influencers, Rather than a vocational school rep at an assembly, who pull More you People into these Fields.

“Gen Z Really is Facing a New Set of Challenges,” Sayys Jennifer Herrity, Who Follows Career Trends at Indeed. “Social Media Has Really Introduced Gen Z To What Working in New Fields Can Be Like.”

Day-the-the-life videos have Flooded YouTube, Tiktok, and Instagram, Giving People A Peek Careers that Mary May Not Have Known About Unless family Member work in say. There are some some that show Consultants or Tech Workers Shuttling from an Early Morning at Equinox to their Offices and THEN FROM MEETING TO MEETING, $ 9 MATCHA LATTE IN HAND, But the most interesting videos come from People People Hands-On Fields. There are Arectricians, Plumbers, Landscapers, and More Who Show Themselves Out in the Wild Getting Their Complicated Jobs Done. Osburn Tells with he watched videos on social media about starting his landscape business. Now, he has 45,000 followers Watching Him on Instagram As he drives the his tricks ARUNDIAI. Lexi Abreu, An Electrician with 200,000 Followers on YouTube, Walks Viewers Through Tricky Wiring Jobs and Makes Tongue-In-Cheek Visual Gags About Working As a Woman in a Male-Dominated Profession.

While College Kids Pinch Pennies, Those who go into trades can start earning immediately. Average Entry-Level Construction Jobs Start at Around $ 19 an Hour, and Rise to $ 45 at the Top Level, Acciting to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Maintenance and Repair Jobs Start Around $ 14 an Hour but Can Go As High AS $ 44 an Hour. The aversion Electrician and Plumber Make About $ 29 an Hour, Accounting to Indeed. Instead of surviving on Cup noodles for four years, daniels have built a business, rhi pressure washing, and can pay just his bills, but three employs. Already, People are increasingly seeing the value of working in the trades. In 2024, 66% of Adults Said they Believed there were well-Paid, stable jobs available to those only High school diplomas or geds, up from 50% in 2018, a survey of About 1,500 People Conducted by the Think Tank New America Found.

The Blue-Collar Perks Don’t Mean College Degrees Are Dying Anestime Soon. The Median Pay for a Gen Z College Graduate in 2024 was $ 60,000, Based on date from the federal reserve bank of New York, Compared to $ 40,000 for A High School Graduate. That gap widens as college-educated workers age and advance through their Fields. And some of these stable fields are Hiring for College Grams, Too: The Fastest-Growing Industry for New College Grades is in Construction, Linkedin Says, and Entry-Level Workers are Also Rising in Number in the Utility Sector and Oil, Gas, and Mining Industries.

Daniels have have graduated from College this month, but in that time, he has insted spun out his high schoool side of prints into a full business. He spends Most of his day running the business side. That means ussing chatgpt Almost Daily, Whether Its to Draft Responses to Customers or Mass Email, Daniels Says. Geni he might “take away from White-Collar Jobs, and it really helps us out here.”

Amanda Hoover is a senior correspondent at Business Insider Covering the Tech Industry. She Writes About the Biggest Tech Companies and Trends.