3.8 million new manufacturing jobs are coming to America as boomers retire--but it's the one trade job Gen Z doesn't want

[Celerity]

https://fortune.com/article/us-manufacturing-jobs-gen-z-baby-boomers-retirement-immigration/

https://archive.ph/xt0E9





Gen Zers are steadily abandoning the college-to-corporate pipeline, opting for trade school and blue-collar jobs instead. They’re suiting up as electricians, plumbers, and carpenters for six-figure salaries—but there’s one thriving industry they’re still turning their nose up at.

Manufacturing is one of America’s hottest growing professions, with 3.8 million new jobs expected to open up by 2033, according to research from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. Yet half of those roles are predicted to go unfilled. Just 14% of Gen Z say they’d consider industrial work as a career, according to a separate study from Soter Analytics.

Gen Z’s interest in degree-less manufacturing jobs should be obvious—after all, they’re already ditching cushy air-conditioned offices for blue-collar horizons. But they’re choosing to sit this one out. That’s likely because a quarter of them believe the industry doesn’t offer flexibility and isn’t safe, as per Soter Analytics’ study—two non-negotiables for Gen Z, who value hybrid work and being cared for on the job.

Gen Z wants blue-collar work—just not on the factory floor................

snip

[C_U_L8R]

1. After he steals our Social Security savings

We can all go back to work in a hellishly unregulated factory

[msongs]

2. is playing with your cellphone 24/7 a job? nt

[DET]

3. Sometimes

Apparently it can be if you’re an ‘influencer’ - whatever that is.

[Celerity]

4. Influencers who actually make enough money to live on are a very small amount of the Gen Z (and all Gens) population.

[msongs]

5. yeah the rest are addicted to their phones for no financial gain. nt

[haele]

9. No, but working a job that allows you to control your work hours

And still get paid well and feel like you've accomplished something rather than live by someone else's clock may seem like slacking. That's one of the arguments MAGA is making against people who telework.
When I teleworked, I was always available, but I was able to flex my sit down at a desk or make meetings during a 9 hour workday around from 5am to 5 pm. I could take a break to run an errand or clear my head if I needed it whenever and still put my hours in and produce high quality work. Heck, I could even head down to the office or a worksite on occasion and not feel pressured to play the politics, and I sat "around and waited" a whole lot less when teleworking than I do sitting around the office.
As for "Spending a lot of time on the phone", that's subjective, many people do actual work over their phone - especially if part of one's job is lining up customers, clients, scheduling work, communicating with other project workers and stakeholders, or managing work on a project.
Heck, I can access the Cloud, gather data and build up an metrics analysis chart to brief leadership on a problem while sitting at the lounge at lunch on my phone. That's work ..

[MichMan]

13. How is that possible for the blue collar jobs that were mentioned in the OP?

Plumbers, electricians etc.

A service technician that is at my house repairing my furnace in Michigan in December can just leave mid repair for a couple hours to clear his head and run errands?

[haele]

14. The service tech can schedule one job on your furnace that day

And run his or her errands before or after your job.
That's how that works.
It also allows for flexibility for the service provider to the customer. If I want to be there when the plumber comes in, and because my job is an 8-5 job, and I can't take off work, I can make a deal with them to have someone come out for a 7 to 9 pm block, or a 5 to 7am block. So they are able to arrange their own errands or child -pickup around my needs. And ya, I had an HVAC tech offer to come out at 5am for a three hour block a year and a half ago.
A lot of home and business service companies are basically offices that serve as dispatchers for techs or gig workers that are affiliated with the company. Unless the owner of the business also does the work, too, that's how a lot of GenZ businesses are run.

[DonCoquixote]

6. Gen z bashign is tiresome

Maybe they just see how their boomer and Gen x parents go screwed out of their jobs when they got outsource to china? Hel at leats their parents had UNIONS, which sadly are DEAD.

[betsuni]

8. Any generation bashing is tiresome. Union membership peaked in 1955, U.S. switched to service instead

of manufacturing jobs in the '70s, automation is the leading cause of loss of manufacturing jobs.

[LS0999]

7. This is b*******.

There's going to be mass layoffs in the manufacturing sector because of the actions of the crime ring running the country now. This is a trade war we are going to lose on top of that people outside if the United Reich of Amerika are boycotting our stuff as well so exports will dry up. These 3.8 million jobs were predicted if things continued as they were under President Biden.

[bluesbassman]

10. They're smart enough to understand that it's a con.

Very few manufacturing jobs are going to be human centric in the next ten years. Any major industry is going to invest in AI driven automation manufacturing. Why in the world would anyone set themselves up to replaced part way through their career by a fucking robot? The amount of hands on human involvement in manufacturing will be minimal at best in the next ten years, if any of it even makes it to the US.

[fujiyamasan]

11. Manufacturing jobs aren't like they were in the past

The plants are leaner and much more efficient. They are increasingly automated. The equipment used can’t be operated by a person with a person barely making it through high school.

While I know this generation prefers greater flexibility and work/life balance than the past, the article should also make it clearer that the jobs will be increasingly limited to those with the required technical skills. It’s still not exactly easy to find skilled CNC operators, or those with experience with robotics programming or PLCs. And unlike say web programming or something similar, it’s hard to be self taught with these skills.

A smarter approach to education would offer these classes at the high school level to those not seeking college. And even private trade schools can be expensive and some are outright scams.

[MichMan]

12. How are plumbers and electricians able to work hybrid ?

Don't they require someone to be present on a job site, adhere to a schedule, and accommodate emergency calls?

Things like no heat in the winter, no A/C in the summer, basements flooding due to plumbing leaks, well pumps not working.... etc.

"The main freezer in the restaurant isn't working, and I'm worried the food will spoil. How soon can someone be out to fix it?" "Well, unfortunately, our repair technician is working from home today and won't be available. Any way you can take it over to their house? "

Gen Zers are steadily abandoning the college-to-corporate pipeline, opting for trade school and blue-collar jobs instead. They’re suiting up as electricians, plumbers, and carpenters for six-figure salaries—but there’s one thriving industry they’re still turning their nose up at.

Gen Z’s interest in degree-less manufacturing jobs should be obvious—after all, they’re already ditching cushy air-conditioned offices for blue-collar horizons. But they’re choosing to sit this one out. That’s likely because a quarter of them believe the industry doesn’t offer flexibility and isn’t safe, as per Soter Analytics’ study—two non-negotiables for Gen Z, who value hybrid work and being cared for on the job.

[Cosmocat]

15. Not sure exactly what "hybrid" means, but

I think the delineation for Gen Z is they don't want to be stuck in one place all day long doing the same things over and over.

Plumbing, contracting work, you may be at certain sites for periods of time, but there is some variability in what you do, and there is a lot of problem solving involved.

So, you get to use your hands and deal with different challenges in different places, as you illustrated in your examples. And, have the satisfaction of being able to know you got things up and running for those folks or having built something new.

I think the author of the article is seeing some data, general read on it but isn't really attuned to what is about ... I work remotely, like being able to work on laundry, eat lunch at home, take the dog out, while working.

But that isn't really what these folks are like, they don't want to be stuck at home, they want to use their hands and be stimulated.

[MichMan]

16. None of this is new however

Hybrid generally means dividing between working from home and the office.

People in trades have been going to different job sites and people's homes for over a hundred years. There has always been a lot of people that aren't interested in college and want to work with their hands. It seemed however that for years many people looked down on those occupations which was wrong. I think the reason the trades are becoming more popular currently is a backlash to student loans more so than a mind shift in what type of work is more appealing.

For some, working outside and at different locations is more rewarding, but it has drawbacks. Thawing out frozen pipes in sub zero temperatures, or working in attics in hundred degree temperatures isn't very pleasant, especially when you get older. I have a relative that delivers beverages to retailers. Dragging product down icy sidewalks and parking lots is a lot less appealing at 60 years of age than it was at 30.

The same applies to manufacturing. It's not just about standing in a work cell doing repetitive tasks. They also have electricians, machine repair, hydraulics, mold & die repair, automation design and programming, welding and all kinds of skilled trades.