Now, three-quarters of Gen Zers actually associate desk jobs with burnout and instability—and new research from SupplyHouse, shared exclusively with Fortune, shows they’re done pretending otherwise.
Nearly 1 in 4 have already seriously considered, or are actively pursuing, a career in the trades instead.
In what may be the biggest generational career pivot in decades, powered by economic anxiety, student debt, and TikTok, Gen Z are trading laptops for toolbelts—and they’re not looking back.
Half of Gen Z say their interest in becoming welders, electricians, plumbers, and so on, started on social media. TikTok is the number one platform where Gen Z are discovering trade careers, with 1 in 3 watching trade content there—and getting allured. It’s not hard to see why.
“It just feels like you’re just banging your head against the wall,” a struggling Gen Zer with a maths degree lamented.
So it’s perhaps unsurprising that 78% of Gen Z have concluded that skilled trades are less vulnerable to AI disruption than white-collar careers.
Despite the buzz, the reality of trade work doesn’t always live up to the TikTok hype. Nearly 1 in 3 Gen Z (30%) say a parent, teacher, or counselor discouraged them from pursuing a trade career. And they may have a point.
It’s not the first study to suggest Gen Z may be looking at manual work through rose-tinted glasses.
And worse still, more often than not, many trade jobs might not actually make Gen Z happier than a desk job.
