From Laptop to Tool Belt: Why Gen Z Is Eyeing the Trades

Picture a visual communication design graduate who suddenly signs up for an electrical installation course. Not for fun. Half the freelance work that used to pay the bills can now be done by clients themselves with AI in five minutes. But AI still can't climb a ladder and fix a circuit breaker. It sounds like a hangout joke, and it is a little bitter.

The problem is, that scenario keeps happening.

Abroad, the phenomenon already has catchy names, one of them the "toolbelt generation". A survey of 1,250 Gen Z adults in the US found that around six in ten planned to pursue blue-collar work in 2026, and, surprisingly, about half of those who already hold a bachelor's degree thought the same. The main reason was job security. Nearly half of respondents believed hands-on jobs are safer in the long run than corporate roles, largely because of the threat of automation.

Another report, from the services platform Thumbtack, said around 30 percent of Gen Z feel AI has actually made them more interested in skilled work like electrical or plumbing. Four in five respondents believe AI will wipe out many entry-level jobs. And it isn't only about fear. There's a funny irony here: the AI boom needs giant data centers, and data centers need electricians, cooling technicians, and construction workers in large numbers. One American TV host even claimed some AI companies are willing to pay young electricians up to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. That figure may be an extreme case, but the direction is clear.

Meanwhile, on the office side, the demands are getting stranger. Data reported by Fortune said the share of tech job postings explicitly asking for AI skills reached about 75 percent in June. So you're faced with two choices: learn to ride the machine that might replace you, or move to work the machine can't yet touch.

So what about us here in Indonesia? The context is different, of course. Here, "tradesperson work" doesn't have the same image as in the US, where a licensed electrician can live very comfortably. Here, tradespeople's wages still get haggled down, and the stigma that university is the only road to a decent life is still strong, especially from parents. But the signs are starting to show. Local media now regularly write about Gen Z moving into technical work. Courses in welding, AC servicing, and solar panel installation keep showing up on the For You page. And many young people who used to freelance in digital creative work have felt orders drop as generative tools get better.

I think there's something deeper here than salary math. A generation that grew up with screens since childhood is starting to look for something that feels real. Work with results you can touch. A wire that connects, a pipe that doesn't leak, a table that stands straight. Some reports also say many Gen Z deliberately seek offline activities, and some say making things with their hands helps their mental health. In scene language: it's a kind of DIY for the working world.

Of course this isn't a magic fix. Physical work has its own risks, from injury to wages that aren't necessarily fair, especially without a union or standards to protect workers. And AI is slowly entering the trades too, through diagnostic tools and robots. What's changing may not be which job is safe forever, but who's willing to keep learning.

Back to that design graduate. The most sensible middle path might be working on two fronts: installing wiring by day, still drawing gig posters at night, and doing the posters by hand, because that's the part that still brings joy.

Let the machines do the boring stuff. Save your hands for what you love, and for what pays the rent.