Gen Z is choosing hands-on work—and the pay is competitive

For years, the default path for ambitious teens was simple: four-year degree, office job, upward ladder. 2025 looks different.

New surveys and labor data show more Gen Z workers steering toward apprenticeships, skilled trades, and modern manufacturing—fields once dismissed as “backup plans.”

A May 2025 national survey of 1,400+ Gen Z adults found 42% are working in or pursuing blue-collar or skilled-trade roles, including over a third with bachelor’s degrees—a remarkable signal that the narrative is shifting from “college or bust” to “skills that pay” (and can’t be easily automated).

Meanwhile, governments are putting real money behind this pivot: the U.S. Department of Labor announced $244 million to expand Registered Apprenticeships across high-growth industries, underscoring that “earn while you learn” is now a national workforce strategy, not a niche program. 

Why now: AI uncertainty, entry-level bottlenecks, and a taste for making

Two macro forces are pushing in the same direction.

First, AI pressure on entry-level office work makes hands-on paths feel safer and more tangible to many young workers. That sentiment shows up in 2025 reporting on Gen Z career pivots, where stability, autonomy, and visible progress often beat logo-chasing. 

Second, entry-level postings have tightened, and graduates are recalibrating where the opportunity actually sits.

Big manufacturers and infrastructure employers are recruiting with clear training ladders, certifications, and pay transparency, which plays directly to Gen Z’s appetite for growth with purpose—an attitude Deloitte has tracked across 23,000+ young workers worldwide. 

Add to that a cultural shift: smart factories look more like tech hubs than shop floors.

The World Economic Forum bluntly argues Gen Z’s digital fluency and AI comfort are a perfect fit for advanced manufacturing, where sensors, software, and robotics meet metal. 

Show me the money: wages in the trades aren’t shabby

The pay data rarely make headlines, but they’re compelling.

In the U.S., the median annual wage for electricians sits around $62,350 (May 2024), with 9% growth projected this decade—“much faster than average,” per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Plumbers and steamfitters are in the same neighborhood, at a $62,970 median. That’s before overtime, shift differentials, or specialized certifications that can push earnings higher.

Across the broader construction-and-extraction group, the median is $58,360, above the all-occupation median—evidence that skilled, physical work often pays solid middle-class wages, without a four-year degree’s debt drag. 

In Europe and the UK, wage stories vary by sector and region, but the pipeline view is clear: higher apprenticeship starts are rising in England in 2024/25, especially at advanced levels—an indicator that young talent sees a credible earnings path outside university alone. 

Supply, meet demand: shortages create bargaining power

“Hands-on” demand isn’t just cyclical—it’s structural. Electrification, housing retrofits, data centers, and renewables are soaking up skilled labor.

In the UK, industry groups and trade press warn of persistent shortages of electricians and plumbers. ONS data show the electrical workforce shrank materially since 2018, even as need climbed.

Fewer trained hands doing more work equals pricing power for the people doing the work.

The near-term outlook echoes across sectors: manufacturing-heavy U.S. states report thick concentrations of production roles, with specialist operator jobs (power, energy) commanding strong wages.

The new apprenticeship pitch: earn, learn, and stack credentials

One reason this story feels different in 2025: apprenticeships have modernized. Programs now bundle paid experience with portable credentials, shorter classroom blocks, and clearer progression from apprentice to journeyman to specialist.

The U.S. dashboards on Apprenticeship.gov make the scale and sector spread visible; funding is aimed not just at construction but IT, clean energy, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing—fields where a Gen Z skillset (data + hands) shines. 

In Europe, platforms like Handshake track graduates flowing into government, manufacturing, and healthcare alongside traditional corporate roles, suggesting the “secure + skills-rich” combo is resonating.

What the day-to-day looks like (and why Gen Z actually likes it)

This isn’t your grandfather’s shop floor.

Walk into a modern plant and you’ll see tablets, digital twins, and collaborative robots. The WEF calls it out: smart factories need people who can learn fast, troubleshoot with data, and work across disciplines—traits that match Gen Z’s comfort with software, video learning, and peer communities.

Out in the field, solar installers, EV-charger techs, and building-automation specialists are solving visible problems for neighbors and cities.

That tangible impact scratches an itch office work doesn’t always reach and it’s one reason many young workers say they’re happier trading slides for socket wrenches.

Wider impact: what schools, employers, and cities should do next

If you run a school district or a community college, the signals say: treat apprenticeships as first-choice pathways, not detours. Strong programs co-design curriculum with employers, guarantee paid placements, and help students stack credentials they can carry across companies. (Governments are already paying for this—don’t leave money on the table.)

Employers who’ve struggled to fill roles can widen the funnel by publishing skill maps instead of degree wish-lists, paying for certifications, and showing day-one pay and year-three outcomes up front.

Cities can make the ecosystem visible: one portal for apprenticeships, tool libraries, micro-grant kits, and bus routes that actually connect neighborhoods to worksites and plants.

The payoff isn’t abstract: more local talent in stable, middle-income jobs, faster progress on housing and infrastructure, and a workforce less exposed to desk-job automation shocks. 

How to evaluate a hands-on path (a quick checklist)

• Follow the wage data. Start with the BLS occupation pages: look up median pay, growth, and openings for the role you’re eyeing—electrician, HVAC tech, industrial maintenance. If the median beats your current offer and the 10-year outlook is solid, keep going.
• Interrogate the apprenticeship. Ask four questions: Is it registered? What’s the pay progression year by year? Which certifications do I earn? What’s the placement rate into full-time roles? U.S. and UK public dashboards can help you benchmark.
• Map the ladder. The best programs publish stage-to-wage ladders (apprentice → journeyman → specialist/foreman) so you can see if year three clears your target rent and debt goals. Trade boards often publish reference rates for apprentices and qualified workers.
• Check the tech. Favor employers using modern diagnostics, sensors, and training tools—you’ll learn faster and stay marketable as the work evolves. The WEF’s smart-manufacturing primer is a useful lens.
• Reality-check lifestyle. Shifts, weather, travel, and physical demands are real. Talk to two people in the role—one year in, five years in—before you sign. Then decide with eyes open.

The bottom line

Gen Z’s move toward hands-on work isn’t a retreat from ambition — it’s a recalibration toward skills that compound, jobs you can see, and pay that often holds its own against entry-level corporate roles.

With governments funding apprenticeships, manufacturers digitizing, and wages for core trades sitting in solid territory, the “work with your hands” pitch finally fits the spreadsheet and the heart.

If you’re graduating into a choppy white-collar market—or just ready for work that leaves a mark—this might be the rare career story where the trend line and the paycheck point in the same direction.