According to a recent report by Fox News Digital, many young people have started researching trade schools and blue-collar work that are not easily replaceable by tech as the controversies around college education keeps rising, along with the possible threat AI gives to white-collar jobs.
“These [blue-collar] jobs are here to stay,” Lincoln Tech CEO Scott Shaw said to Fox Business’s Stuart Varney on Tuesday. “[S]ince COVID 19, people are seeing the necessity for trades,” Shaw said.
Shaw continued by stating that his school’s pupils were vital throughout the epidemic and that there is a critical demand for important professionals.
He said that the vital employees were “in the hospitals,” “keeping your Amazon orders coming to you, keeping transportation.”
The study also stated that, according to January 2024 National Student Clearinghouse data, enrolment in vocational community colleges had increased nationwide by 16 percent since 2018.
According to the report:
“The first increase in undergraduate enrollment since the epidemic occurred in autumn 2023, growing by 1.2 percent (+176,000). Community colleges saw the biggest increase of the three major sectors, adding 118,000 students (+2.6%) after experiencing sharp drops during the epidemic. The gains for 4-year nonprofit public and private colleges were less significant, at 0.6 percent (+38,000 and +16,000, respectively). This autumn, undergraduate enrolment increased in more than two-thirds of the states.”
Younger people seem to be gravitating more and more toward trades and affordable four-year university degrees.”
“About 20% of our students are fresh out of high school,” Shaw said in reference to the demographics of people who have chosen to pursue trade jobs and enroll in higher vocational education.
“The average age of our pupils is 25, but over 50% are 21 years old or younger,” he continued.
“We have many career changers, individuals that have tried college and it simply was not right for them, or people that wish to follow their passion,” he continued, adding that some people have made the decision to give up on the jobs they had originally intended to pursue.
According to Ramsey Solutions celebrity and career coach Ken Coleman, trades frequently provide young people with a quicker and less expensive method to start producing money.
According to our data, 75% of Gen Z members indicate they would like to start their own business. “Trades provide a speedier, cheaper way to be able to work for themselves, generate opportunities for other people, and hook into small business, which is the actual backbone of our economy,” Coleman said. “They want to work for themselves.”
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