You can’t have an AI plumber: Why Gen Z might be ditching college for skilled trades

Fast Company 

Shalene Gupta

August 24, 2023

According to a survey from Thumbtack, 74% of young adults said they believe skilled trade jobs won’t be replaced by AI, for one

ChatGPT might be hailed as the next holy grail, but there are some things it can’t do, such as install a carpet or fix a home’s plumbing. Yet today, there’s a shortage of skilled trade talent, with applications for technical jobs dropping by 49% in 2022 compared to 2020.

In response to this, Thumbtack, a platform for hiring local professionals including handymen, plumbers, and electricians, surveyed 1,000 young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 across the United States and, in a separate survey, 800 U.S. adults employed in a skilled trade, to get a sense of what we can expect for the future. Here’s what they found.

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