Young people are taking on vocational roles to future-proof their careers against AI. College students and junior white collar workers told The Wall Street Journal that they had quit their careers to become electricians or firefighters; enrollment at vocational schools has risen 20% since 2020, data suggests. Jobs that require in-person work, or human interaction, are expected to be more AI-resistant. But even as parents recognize that blue collar jobs are safer, they struggle to recommend them to their own children. A UK survey found just 7% would prefer their kids pursue a trade than a degree.
admiraltarkin on
I speak at my alma mater every semester and I get the AI question a lot. Frankly, I’m really concerned about entry level workers. Not that they won’t have any jobs, but that there will be fewer jobs available. When I graduated 11 years ago, companies were taking boatloads of people. Now, the same firms are taking fractions of the prior intake class sizes.
rphillish on
These kids better hope we don’t tap out the actual usefulness of LLMs in the office soon and subsequently move on to robotics as the hot new AI utility.
Louis_de_Gaspesie on
>His girlfriend, 25-year-old Jewel Rudolph, feels vindicated by her decision to start a business in 2019 selling açai bowls at farmers markets and not going to college like her mom wanted. ”
>…
>He dropped out of college last year and is now in trade school studying to be an electrician.
I get that it’s tough to navigate the AI-era workforce, but isn’t the point of a university education to make you good at critical thinking and mentally adaptable? Why would you not at least finish your degree and leave open the possibility of getting one of the white collars jobs that aren’t getting automated, in addition to whatever your blue collar dream is?
ixvst01 on
It’s been nearly 2 years since I graduated with a STEM degree and I’m still unemployed. I initially had some optimism things would get better, but with this Trump admin only worsening economic conditions, companies showing no qualms about mass layoffs (especially in tech), and AI only getting better, I am legitimately considering just giving up. The longer I’m unemployed the harder it will be to find a role. I was literally just rejected from a co-op role at a large bank whose only requirement was “recent college grad in CS/IT/MIS” and was told I graduated too long ago. Apparently May 2024 is ancient history now.
Unfortunately, I’m unable physically to pivot into the vast majority of trades or the military. I’m seriously considering just going to Asia to teach English. My only other option is grad school, but it’s hard to justify the costs given I would have to take out even more loans for it. It’s sad to say, but this country has left me behind.
MyrinVonBryhana on
I don’t have WSJ subscription, but my gut feeling is that this is the most cherry picked article with the most non-representative subjects in the world.
6 Comments
Young people are taking on vocational roles to future-proof their careers against AI. College students and junior white collar workers told The Wall Street Journal that they had quit their careers to become electricians or firefighters; enrollment at vocational schools has risen 20% since 2020, data suggests. Jobs that require in-person work, or human interaction, are expected to be more AI-resistant. But even as parents recognize that blue collar jobs are safer, they struggle to recommend them to their own children. A UK survey found just 7% would prefer their kids pursue a trade than a degree.
I speak at my alma mater every semester and I get the AI question a lot. Frankly, I’m really concerned about entry level workers. Not that they won’t have any jobs, but that there will be fewer jobs available. When I graduated 11 years ago, companies were taking boatloads of people. Now, the same firms are taking fractions of the prior intake class sizes.
These kids better hope we don’t tap out the actual usefulness of LLMs in the office soon and subsequently move on to robotics as the hot new AI utility.
>His girlfriend, 25-year-old Jewel Rudolph, feels vindicated by her decision to start a business in 2019 selling açai bowls at farmers markets and not going to college like her mom wanted. ”
>…
>He dropped out of college last year and is now in trade school studying to be an electrician.
I get that it’s tough to navigate the AI-era workforce, but isn’t the point of a university education to make you good at critical thinking and mentally adaptable? Why would you not at least finish your degree and leave open the possibility of getting one of the white collars jobs that aren’t getting automated, in addition to whatever your blue collar dream is?
It’s been nearly 2 years since I graduated with a STEM degree and I’m still unemployed. I initially had some optimism things would get better, but with this Trump admin only worsening economic conditions, companies showing no qualms about mass layoffs (especially in tech), and AI only getting better, I am legitimately considering just giving up. The longer I’m unemployed the harder it will be to find a role. I was literally just rejected from a co-op role at a large bank whose only requirement was “recent college grad in CS/IT/MIS” and was told I graduated too long ago. Apparently May 2024 is ancient history now.
Unfortunately, I’m unable physically to pivot into the vast majority of trades or the military. I’m seriously considering just going to Asia to teach English. My only other option is grad school, but it’s hard to justify the costs given I would have to take out even more loans for it. It’s sad to say, but this country has left me behind.
I don’t have WSJ subscription, but my gut feeling is that this is the most cherry picked article with the most non-representative subjects in the world.