{"id":13814,"date":"2024-11-04T14:52:29","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T15:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=13814"},"modified":"2024-11-04T16:05:59","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T16:05:59","slug":"inspiring-and-eye-opening-gen-zs-interest-in-skilled-trades-is-rising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=13814","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Inspiring and Eye-opening\u2019: Gen Z\u2019s Interest in Skilled Trades is Rising"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.wisconsinrightnow.com\/gen-zs-interest-in-skilled-trades\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Gen<\/p>\n

Social media\u2019s influence is causing Gen Z\u2019s interest in skilled trades to rise, according to a report by Thumbtack \u2013 something a trade organization co-director said is \u201cinspiring and eye-opening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c55% of Gen Zers are considering a skilled trade career (up 12% from last year) \u2013 including 72% of those with a college degree,\u201d Thumbtack\u2019s report<\/a> stated.<\/p>\n

Thumbtack is a company that helps people \u201ccare for and improve their homes\u201d by finding a skilled tradesman nearby.<\/p>\n

\u201c84% of both Gen Zers and their parents express high respect for the skilled trades,\u201d according to Thumbtack\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

The report shows that social media is a driving force behind Gen Z\u2019s interest in trades, with \u201c67% of Gen Zers \u2013 including 78% of those with a college degree \u2013 [saying] social media has increased their interest in these professions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSkilled trades professionals are driving this trend, with 60% of pros saying that their careers are becoming increasingly \u2018Instagrammable,\u2019\u201d the report stated, which feeds Gen Z\u2019s desire to \u201c[keep] it real\u201d and \u201csee both the good and bad parts of \u2018a hard day\u2019s work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of social media, however, parents are the top influence as it concerns Gen Z\u2019s career choice, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Reasons Gen Z is attracted to the skilled trades are \u201cthe ability to earn money and work right away, to pursue a career they enjoy, and to learn new skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are \u201call attributes [skilled] pros rate as better than other industries,\u201d the report stated. \u201cCompared with an office job, the trades offer an opportunity to run your own company, control your own schedule, and pursue a career you enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, \u201conly 41% of [Gen Z] reported having any access to trade programs in school, effectively cutting off a pathway to well-paying skilled trades jobs for students every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen such programs are provided, however, Gen Z embraces them: 83% of Gen Zers who\u2019ve taken shop class said it was their favorite subject,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n

Gen Z is \u201cmost interested in trade careers as engineers, electricians, carpenters, welders, general contractors, and plumbers,\u201d which is \u201cgood news for both Gen Z and our communities,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cGen Z college graduates are seven times more likely to regret attending college than pros who attended trade school,\u201d according to the report. \u201cAnd 83% of pros would still choose a skilled trades career if they could turn back the clock and decide again.<\/p>\n

\u201c80 percent of parents agree learning a skilled trade can be a better pathway to economic security than going to college,\u201d Thumbtack said in another release<\/a>. \u201cYet 77 percent of parents still say they\u2019ve encouraged their children to attend a four-year college.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Hedstrom, co-executive director of Skilled Careers Coalition, told The Center Square that \u201cthere was a time when a college degree provided automatic entry into a lifelong, fulfilling career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday many young people graduating from college find themselves saddled with loan debt and unable to find a job in their field of choice,\u201d Hedstrom said. \u201cSkilled careers provide young people with an alternate path to success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skilled Careers Coalition \u201clooks to inspire the next generation of talent to pursue a skilled career and streamline the talent ecosystem to close the skills gap,\u201d according to its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemand for talented professionals across a vast array of skilled trades and industries is higher than it\u2019s ever been,\u201d Hedstrom said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor young people to see others like them on social media working with their hands, earning a great living, and literally getting the job done, is both inspiring and eye-opening,\u201d Hedstrom said. \u201cColleges and universities and the military are great career options for some, but for millions of high schoolers and those in the Gen Z set, these options either lack appeal, or just don\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hedstrom also told The Center Square that although in its own study it found that guidance counselors, parents, and friends are the top career influencers for students, Skilled Careers Coalition is jumping onto the social media bandwagon with its Skills Jam entertainment brand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the goal to inspire the next generation of master builders, welders, plumbers, creators and fixers, Skills Jam is a story- and information-sharing social media platform about the skilled trades for youth by youth,\u201d Hedstrom said.<\/p>\n

Thumbtack surveyed 1,000 Gen Zers, 1,000 Gen Z parents, and 1,233 Thumbtack Pros \u2013 those in a skilled trade \u2013in July and August of 2024 for its study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.wisconsinrightnow.com\/gen-zs-interest-in-skilled-trades\/ Social media\u2019s influence is causing Gen Z\u2019s interest in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wi-right-now"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13814"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13817,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13814\/revisions\/13817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}