College is under AI's cloud, but students still choose it
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Threats of AI's white-collar bloodbath are making blue-collar jobs look more attractive — but Gen Z and their parents are still choosing college, per a new report from home services software maker Jobber.
Why it matters: Pundits call Gen Z "the toolbelt generation," but the data says college-track kids aren't rejecting the traditional choice of higher education yet.
By the numbers: Students and parents say they're losing faith in college in the age of AI.
- Only 16% of parents of Gen Z say they now believe a college degree guarantees long-term job security, according to Jobber, a software company for small home services businesses.
- 77% of Gen Z report that choosing a career resistant to automation is a "top priority."
Between the lines: While interest in trades is rising, negative stereotypes and lack of exposure to trades in high school still steer students toward college.
- Only 31% of Gen Z say their high schools promoted trade school as a post-graduation option.
- 71% of Gen Z say vocational school carries more stigma than college, and just 7% of parents say they'd prefer their child pursue a vocational path.
- "A major misconception about the trades is that they're a fallback, not a first-choice career," Itzcoatl Aguilar, owner of E's Heating & Air, says in the report. "Too many underestimate how lucrative they can be."
What they did: The 2025 Annual Blue Collar Report by Jobber draws on two surveys conducted by Conjointly.
- In May and June 2025 researchers spoke to 1,042 U.S. students ages 18–20 and 1,336 U.S. parents of children in that same age range.
- Jobber says that both surveys carry a margin of error of ±3 percentage points at the 90% confidence level.
Yes, but: Blue-collar jobs that don't require a college degree are not all created equal.
- Jobber defines blue-collar work in its survey as a "trade" or "skilled-trade" job that typically includes manual or trade-related labor that requires a license.
- These jobs could include some manufacturing jobs, but not all manufacturing jobs require employees to obtain licenses, Elana Ziluk, senior public relations manager at Jobber, told Axios.
- Blue-collar manufacturing jobs are far from future-proof. The sector shed 12,000 jobs in August and now has 78,000 fewer employees compared with the same period a year ago, Axios' Courtenay Brown reports.
Between the lines: Jobber, which sells software to tradespeople, has a clear interest in raising the profile of blue-collar careers.
- But evidence of a blue-collar revenge is popping up everywhere
- In a recent Microsoft study of jobs most and least threatened by AI, the top 10 least vulnerable jobs were all blue-collar.
- "Train to be a plumber," AI "godfather" Geoffrey Hinton said on the "Diary of a CEO" podcast when asked to give career advice for the age of superintelligence.
Reality check: At its current capabilities, AI is just as likely to reshape white-collar jobs as it is to eliminate them.
- Colleges, business schools and high schools are busy teaching Gen Z AI skills that they believe will be useful in the future.
- OpenAI just announced a certificate program and a new jobs platform designed to connect employers with workers who understand and can use AI tools and to help workers translate their AI fluency into income.
The other side: Top-tier schools have long tended to de-emphasize specific career training, and the appeal of a college degree has often come as much from its status boost as from any practical use.
- People's beliefs and prejudices around higher education may not change as fast as the tech market.
What's next: Jobber's polling covered Gen Z. But Gen Alpha is already nipping at the heels of Gen Z's Crocs.
- The oldest kids of the youngest generation are around 15, an age where many start thinking about their future careers.
- How much and how quickly AI makes white-collar work obsolete is likely to shape their thinking about college.
