If you haven’t already, it’s time to face the facts — AI is coming for our jobs.
But while the rest of us nervously await the inevitable, Gen Z is getting ahead of the curve by ditching the rat race altogether.
Today’s youths are increasingly forgoing high-paying careers in fields like finance, tech, and consulting in favor of blue-collar and skilled trade work, like farming and construction.
According to a survey by Resume Builder, 42% of Gen Zers are either already working in or pursuing blue-collar roles, including 37% of those with college degrees.
Several factors are driving the trend, like an unstable job market and rising education costs, but one of the biggest motivations is AI displacement.
Their fears aren’t unfounded — many entry-level jobs are disappearing, with the unemployment rate for recent grads hitting 5.8% early this year, up from 4.6% last year, as companies assign such roles to AI agents.
The work — farming, landscaping, carpentry, plumbing, construction, etc. — isn’t glamorous, but it can offer things white-collar jobs can’t, like stability and work-life balance.
… isn’t just about doing what’s practical. For some, it’s a moral issue and a matter of doing “meaningful” work.
Several grads of elite colleges, who spoke to Air Mail, cited environmental concerns as a leading motivator behind their decision to pursue work on farms and for sustainability-focused companies.
As Lucinda Carroll, a Vassar College grad who now works at a whole-animal butcher shop, put it: “If there’s no food, there’s no economy. If there’s no Microsoft Teams, there’s still an economy.”