Gen Z has started to be dubbed the ‘toolbelt generation’ as more of them are forgoing traditional 4-year colleges and pursuing the trades instead.
In fact, for the third consecutive year, vocational community colleges have had substantial growth in enrollment (+11.7%, +91,000), according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Since spring 2020, enrollment in trade-focused institutions has increased by almost 20 percent.
This trend is being driven by several factors, including rising costs of post-secondary education and shrinking white-collar jobs due to AI automation. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, an AI safety and research company, has predicted that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs in the next one to five years.
Social media has also been boosting the perception of blue-collar jobs. According to Thumbtack’s 2024 Annual Future of the Skilled Trades Report, 84% of Gen Zers express a high respect for the skilled trades and 55% are considering a skilled trade career (up 12% from 2023).
If you want to tap into this promising generation, below are some of the factors to highlight that are attracting younger workers to the trades.
Competitive Pay
With the cost of a college education more than doubling in the U.S., young workers are eager to find a field that pays well without requiring them to become saddled with six figures of debt.
Don’t let the perception that lawn care and landscaping are low-skill, low-paying jobs hold your company back. Be upfront and share your starting rates for crew members as well as where they can climb to over time.
Parental pressure can also play a major role in whether Gen Zers pursue a college degree. By getting involved with your local schools and counselors, you can help shift the narrative about the landscape industry and share average salaries for different roles.
“Guidance counselors are dealing with these students and are starving for information,” says Chris Joyce, president of The Joyce Companies, based in Marstons Mills, Massachusetts. “If any of us reached out to our local schools or trade schools, to the guidance department and said you’d be willing to come in and talk about our industry, they want you there in a second.”
Job Security and Career Ladders
Many Gen Zers are considering the trades because they see manual labor as more insulated from the AI threat of replacing their jobs outright. While some may consider this fear overblown, Amodei and others have been sounding the alarm that AI will eliminate millions of white-collar entry-level jobs. This will effectively break the lower rungs of the career ladder as companies stop listing new jobs, cease backfilling old ones and replace workers with AI agents.
While you may utilize robotic mowers or AI to streamline some of your processes, at the end of the day, you still need boots on the ground to get the work done on a daily basis. Lean into this fact and share how your crews make a difference on properties regularly.
Outline how your organization offers a clear career path, enabling young people to acquire the skills necessary for advancement within the company.
Meaningful Work
Additionally, job satisfaction matters greatly to Gen Zers. They don’t want to simply collect a paycheck. They want to know that what they do matters. As stewards of the environment, this is one competitive advantage against some of the other trades available.
“Young people feel excited when they learn about our mission and vision, and see the work we do in the community,” says Elizabeth Elliott, owner of Himmel’s Landscape and Garden Center, based in Pasadena, Maryland. “They know that we walk the walk.”
Another reason Gen Zers are interested in the trades is their dislike of being stuck inside all day, staring at a computer screen, which has driven them towards blue-collar work.
While trades like plumbing and welding allow them to work with their hands, the landscape industry has the added bonus of allowing them to work outside. Many who have made their way to this field have noted that one of their favorite aspects is seeing the fruits of their labor after a long day.
