At just 23 years old, Jacob Palmer already runs his own electric company. He started the business in 2024 after starting on the field as an apprentice electrician.
Palmer has no regrets about his decision to refrain from college and instead has established himself as a merchant. “It gave me the opportunity to work for myself and become independent, so I'm so happy to do what I'm doing now,” he told CBS News.
Experts say skilled transactions such as electricians, plumbers, welding machines, Masons, HVAC technicians and other occupations that require extensive training and often licenses are ramping up an increase in young people who are postponed at high tuition costs.
More than 57% of Gen Zers surveyed by Jobber, a software tool for the service business, have sued student loan debt as a concern to the university, according to the company's annual report on blue-collar work attitudes.
Recently I've signed it Artificial intelligence is beginning to grow rich Jobs like the entry-level jobs that once did to young college graduates lead young workers to consider deals. Approximately 77% of Gen Zers have pointed out that it is important that their future work is difficult to automate, and that they point out occupations like carpenters, plumbers and electricians as professions they believe are safe from automation. In contrast, research shows that it is less secure in areas such as software development, data analysis, and accounting.
Courtesy of Jacob Palmer 
“That route has lost some of the stigma,” said David Asay, president of Advantage Lileen, a trenchless pipe prehabilitation company in Mesa, Arizona. “The perception among the younger group was no longer “Oh, you were working on construction and didn't go to school?” It was, “What a cool skill set.”
A more difficult path for university graduates
For decades, many young people have shunned the deal with everyone, from economists and career experts to politicians and parents, who emphasize the importance of obtaining a university diploma. That traditional wisdom is not entirely wrong. It's just behind the times.
“The attitude was that trading work was undesirable,” Angi, co-founder of Angi, an online home improvement service guide, told CBS News.
However, several factors have contributed to a change in how people think about such occupations. For one, going to college for many Americans often requires debt. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average cost of universities, including tuition fees, rooms and committees, is now $38,000 a year, approaching $60,000 for private institutions.
Given the additional burden on student loans and potential income, the research company found that the total cost of earning a bachelor's degree while in school could exceed $500,000.
More recently, economists also refer to a Dive into unemployment For recent university graduates, who say some experts are an early warning sign that AI is taking jobs from less experienced workers. The unemployment rate for university graduates aged 23 to 27 this year has increased by about 4.6% from the same demographic in 2019.
Surprisingly, non-university education workers of the same age group experience a much lower unemployment rate at around 0.5% over the same period, according to an analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
“Aye cannot enter the field.”
Vinnie Curcie, founder and CEO of OC Solar, a solar power company in Irvine, California, said the solar energy field is different from other transactions in that the work requires time both in the office and in the field. OC Solar offers three main services: solar panel and battery sales, project management and installation services. However, he hopes that AI will soon handle many of the sales and project management aspects of the business.
While future employees once tended to have a strong interest in the company's marketing, management, or other white-collar roles, more job seekers today are keen on their roles in this field.
“More people are interested in this area because they know where job security lies,” Curcie told CBS News.
Some school districts also report seeing a growing interest in blue-collar careers among students. Marlo Loria, director of career and technical education and innovative partnerships at Mesa Public Schools in Mesa, Arizona, said many of her students are enrolled in the school's welding, construction and auto shop programs rather than having space.
Asay added in Advantage Reline that entrepreneurial crooked students may also be suited to skilled deals.
“They can take their skills and create their own business and become a large part of our business besides being someone who has a shovel on their trench,” he said.
Palmer said his business generated $90,000 in revenue in the first year, tops $150,000 in 2025, an increase of over 30%, and no university degree required. As he sees, another advantage of living as an electrician is the safety of the job.
“I don't feel overly threatened by the growth of AI in my industry. It will one day become a pretty impressive robot that will be able to do my job,” Palmer said.
Courtesy of Caden Evans 
Kayden Evans, an 18-year-old senior at Mountain View High School in Mesa, Arizona, looks to his career working at his hands and eventually start his own business. The intern at Empire Cat, a company that sells, rents and services heavy machinery and tractors, plans to go straight from high school to apprenticeship with the company.
“I'm not saying I'm worried about AI because the place I want to grow is as a field engineer. “AI can't go out into the field and disassemble the engine.”
