Opinion The disapering of blue collar workers?

[Deaths Head]

Idk ? A lot of people do their own work now to save money they can just look up a you tube video or videos and get unlimited information, we did a job here on property that required huge digging machinery ( we used our neighbors ) and materials that would have ran about 10/12 thousand and it cost a fraction of that doing it ourselves with minimum help .

Don’t know if that’s the case but it probably adds in to the reason where ppl are learning themselves how to do things on their own ? Also knowing ppl helps we had Union guys build a new roof on one building and huge deck here for free that would be easily over 10 grand so connections help out as well , ppl are networking more I think instead of paying companies .

 

[Unknown Pleasures]

Ironically enough, AI seems to be replacing the desk type jobs more than physical labor. Kind of contradictory to everything I grew up hearing. In a way it's been sort of satisfying that these guys telling everyone "learn to code" are being replaced by AI coders. Not to celebrate anyone losing their job it's just sort of ironic. I honestly think that some blue color work like trades will be among the last to go. AI will definitely make work more efficient but you will always want human oversight in areas like this, medical care, and policing.

I am a bit surprised in that I think art is actually what seems to be the most replaceable. I think AI has been not nearly factor folks thought in terms of the workplace; both because for physical labor / cars etc you need spend a lot of money on robotics and vehicles and have to worry about lawsuits. Office work and stuff it seems to me to be lagging my expectation too.

The digital content creator seems to be the most expendable. Digital artists, e-thots, and that jazz

 

[joy2day]

Gen Z is soft; they are the Tik Tok generation. They aren't capable of this work for the most part. It takes a certain fortitude and temperament to go out on a construction job every day and work hard. There aren't enough people to do thses jobs in the US right now with young people pooping out.

Robots will eventually take over this work, but white-collar jobs will disappear in mass first.

 

[Unknown Pleasures]

My two cents on blue collar work is that we're obsessed with the folks that are outliers like the .01%. It's tough to make it huge in blue collar work. Society kinda has gone too far in the:

1) "if you're not first, you're last" mentality. Generally people don't hold the amount of esteem for blue collar workers that they should. And of course, you'll notice nobody rages on about DEI in blue collar roles. And

2) and, I've mentioned this a lot of times before, obsession with "trade value" over "utilization value". Our advanced economy basically now depends on marketing / creating high trade value/low use value goods. Expensive cars, designer clothes, premium drinks, cosmetics/cosmetic surgery, luxury services, etc. Basically in order to brainwash people into thinking this is the road to happiness, a certain lifestyle needs to be glamorized and promoted and it isn't the blue collar one.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

You're from Brazil right? I think the class distinction is far more pronounced over there, we in the US really don't have that kind of class based elitism.

In fact we kind of have the opposite as the phrase "blue collar" has positive connotations here to the point that office workers will buy a pick up truck and cowboy hat to LARP as "blue collar" or "rural"

In the US people like to downplay their wealth because flaunting class status is a massive faux pas. So as a rule upper class folks call themselves upper middle class, upper middle class folks call themselves middle class, middle class folks call themselves lower middle class, the lower middle class call themselves working class, and the actual working class call themselves poor while everyone else is rich.

Great points.

Agree with everything except the very last part. I think that while the wealthy definitely play down their wealth, the poor also play up their poverty. Everyone considers themselves "middle class" or at most "working class." You hear very few people label themselves "poor" or lower class, unless they're trying to describe a short period of time in their life or something.

And of course, the romanticizing of blue collar work here has a political element as well. Since non-college educated people make up a big part of the base of the right, there's a sharp vilification of everything associated with white collar work: university education, urban areas, office work, etc.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

Odd time for your graph to end since manufacturing jobs have increased since then and the trend is projected to increase until 2035

 

[panamaican]

Ironically enough, AI seems to be replacing the desk type jobs more than physical labor. Kind of contradictory to everything I grew up hearing. In a way it's been sort of satisfying that these guys telling everyone "learn to code" are being replaced by AI coders. Not to celebrate anyone losing their job it's just sort of ironic. I honestly think that some blue color work like trades will be among the last to go. AI will definitely make work more efficient but you will always want human oversight in areas like this, medical care, and policing.

I think that perspective is a little premature unfortunately.

Right now, we're retrofitting AI into existing infrastructure but the infrastructure wasn't designed for AI upgrades or to take advantage of AI use cases.

The thing I think we need to watch for is the first factories and products designed in conjunction with AI and for AI optimization. Once we get to that point, I suspect that we're going to see more things handed over to robots. I don't know how far out that is though in the timeline. Only that it's inevitable.

 

[RemyR]

I think that perspective is a little premature unfortunately.

Right now, we're retrofitting AI into existing infrastructure but the infrastructure wasn't designed for AI upgrades or to take advantage of AI use cases.

The thing I think we need to watch for is the first factories and products designed in conjunction with AI and for AI optimization. Once we get to that point, I suspect that we're going to see more things handed over to robots. I don't know how far out that is though in the timeline. Only that it's inevitable.

Oh true I have no doubt that down the line it's coming for blue collar work. What I'm saying is that I've heard for years that blue collar work would be the first thing to go so it was sort of amusing to watch AI replace desk workers first. Again, not celebrating the loss of anyone's job just appreciating the irony here

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Ironically enough, AI seems to be replacing the desk type jobs more than physical labor. Kind of contradictory to everything I grew up hearing. In a way it's been sort of satisfying that these guys telling everyone "learn to code" are being replaced by AI coders. Not to celebrate anyone losing their job it's just sort of ironic. I honestly think that some blue color work like trades will be among the last to go. AI will definitely make work more efficient but you will always want human oversight in areas like this, medical care, and policing.

- I think building a home is far more satisfying than coding. But i dont know nothing about coding. But seen a place that was a dirty, empty yard, became someone house is pretty good feeling. And the think that this place will probably outlive us, is a pretty cool legacy.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

After 23 years of Coast Guarding, I will stand by my one regret is not following in my father's footsteps in the trades (he's a Master Plumber...going on 50 years now in the trade...)

Me and him didn't work well together, but some of his guys I would've been happy to apprentice under...and now they're rolling in cash with their own businesses.

Plumbing is one of those few services your average Joe can't live without. People can wait till the next morning with no electricity, HVAC, or gas...but when you have no water to wash or flush...or when the sewage is coming out of your toilet, you pay the 24/7 repair guy what he asks

- I wanted to be a carpenter. Think about that everyday. How it would be? I could win at lotto, and that hople would still be here.

 

[usernamee]

There is a lot more dignity in blue collar work than white collar work.

There is a lot to be said for being on your feet and moving throughout the day versus sitting in a chair for 8 hours. Probably a lot better for you too physically and maybe even mentally.

Can't do it all your life though - its hard work. But I think they all deserve more dignity and respect.

These poor fucks that's worked white collar jobs their whole lifes know nuttin about what it's like working physically in a close nit group of guys bustin ass in the sun all day and then hitting the pub and cracking a cold one together. Those beers simply taste different.

 

[fedoriswar37]

After 23 years of Coast Guarding, I will stand by my one regret is not following in my father's footsteps in the trades (he's a Master Plumber...going on 50 years now in the trade...)

Me and him didn't work well together, but some of his guys I would've been happy to apprentice under...and now they're rolling in cash with their own businesses.

Plumbing is one of those few services your average Joe can't live without. People can wait till the next morning with no electricity, HVAC, or gas...but when you have no water to wash or flush...or when the sewage is coming out of your toilet, you pay the 24/7 repair guy what he asks

I can assure you people can not wait till the next morning for HVAC. If I get a call to a Bell site and their AC is down, I am not going home until it's fixed. It's happened many times.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

You're from Brazil right? I think the class distinction is far more pronounced over there, we in the US really don't have that kind of class based elitism.

In fact we kind of have the opposite as the phrase "blue collar" has positive connotations here to the point that office workers will buy a pick up truck and cowboy hat to LARP as "blue collar" or "rural"

In the US people like to downplay their wealth because flaunting class status is a massive faux pas. So as a rule upper class folks call themselves upper middle class, upper middle class folks call themselves middle class, middle class folks call themselves lower middle class, the lower middle class call themselves working class, and the actual working class call themselves poor while everyone else is rich.

- Yes. In Brazil is pretty common elitism, instead of racism, people tend to look down more on certain jobs. People from the left(usualy women(machism of my part?). tend to assume those type of jobs doesnt requires skills. Butr in my experience, their daddys usualy admire those jobs.

In fact we kind of have the opposite as the phrase "blue collar" has positive connotations here to the point that office workers will buy a pick up truck and cowboy hat to LARP as "blue collar" or "rural"

- Happen here also. I think is a common trace for men. Milionaire old gentleman usually like to put their hands on laboral works. Is like a sense of pride. Thwe younger generations that look down on that.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Most people who talks about IT barely do not know what IT is.

I will tell you something, there are two things : The human factor & Technology.

Technology is a variable, the human factor a constant.

A human from the 9 st century is still the same than a human from the 21 century. But the technology aspect of course is very very different. Now that you understand, which is obvious, there is something else to know.

I saw a lot of people, being told, take the IT road, to get a job. Why ? The digitalization of society, the needs for IT guys, cybercrime and cyberterrorism, AI, digial society and infrastructure, blablabla.

The problem with IT, it's evolving at fast pace. You could be the best IT on earth, your current skillset in 2025, will be worthless in 2035 mostly, technology evolves, an IT guy first con is that he has to follow constantly that train, who goes at a speed that depends on the new trends and evolution of technology.

Another problem with IT, most people will learn easy soft skills, to get a salary. Which is a mistake, simply because, let's say you learn JAVA or PHP, or Python, it will be hard to make a living out of it, simply because there are tons of chinese / indians students who will learn it fast, and part time will try to make money out of it, and will maintain the salary down.

- My dad put me in computer courses. But this was back in 2004, i did courses till end of 2008. Besides photoshoping, i dont remember nothing, learned java, flash, coreldrawl, programing. But today i look just exactly like my dad handling a computer.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

We are constantly hiring union electricians here in Illinois, for what its worth

- Here too. It's a pretty dangerous line of work, but people doesnt take serious. They all say: I know a guy that do electric work.

The thing is the vast marjority if house fires and building fires here, comes from bad made eletrical instalations.

 

[panamaican]

Oh true I have no doubt that down the line it's coming for blue collar work. What I'm saying is that I've heard for years that blue collar work would be the first thing to go so it was sort of amusing to watch AI replace desk workers first. Again, not celebrating the loss of anyone's job just appreciating the irony here

No one who was really paying attention to AI thought that. I've been watching people discuss the inroads into white collar work for over 2 decades at this point. Just when they talked about the impact on white collar workers, they called it "displacement".

What actually caught people off-guard was that white collar workers couldn't be re-trained into other fields as easily as they thought.

Although I do know some people in the white collar space who simply never considered what they did duplicable by technology and they still feel that way.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Idk ? A lot of people do their own work now to save money they can just look up a you tube video or videos and get unlimited information, we did a job here on property that required huge digging machinery ( we used our neighbors ) and materials that would have ran about 10/12 thousand and it cost a fraction of that doing it ourselves with minimum help .

Don’t know if that’s the case but it probably adds in to the reason where ppl are learning themselves how to do things on their own ? Also knowing ppl helps we had Union guys build a new roof on one building and huge deck here for free that would be easily over 10 grand so connections help out as well , ppl are networking more I think instead of paying companies .

- People usualy pay good money to get their home painted. We used to make good money making things that they themselves could do. But theres a lack on interest on these fields. Or school cant form a crowd of 15 people on Edificy building, to create a presential class. The same with fixing the body of cars, we got several acidents per day here. But barely any people on those fields. The ones that do the jobs, were already on them, but no new people

 

[Scerpi]

My two cents on blue collar work is that we're obsessed with the folks that are outliers like the .01%. It's tough to make it huge in blue collar work. Society kinda has gone too far in the:

1) "if you're not first, you're last" mentality. Generally people don't hold the amount of esteem for blue collar workers that they should. And of course, you'll notice nobody rages on about DEI in blue collar roles. And

2) and, I've mentioned this a lot of times before, obsession with "trade value" over "utilization value". Our advanced economy basically now depends on marketing / creating high trade value/low use value goods. Expensive cars, designer clothes, premium drinks, cosmetics/cosmetic surgery, luxury services, etc. Basically in order to brainwash people into thinking this is the road to happiness, a certain lifestyle needs to be glamorized and promoted and it isn't the blue collar one.

Bullshit

Plumbers
Electricians
HVAC
Instrumentation Contractors
Equipment Operators (Especially crane and excavators)

If college isn't your things, all can make significant money. Decent entry level wages and companies will help pay for upper level certifications.

Better than dumping $100K-$200K into a useless degree.

I'm helping a friend get his son into an electrical apprentice job here. If he sticks with it, he can make journeyman in a 2-3 years and pull in a decent wage.

My brother is pulling $250K in Montana now and he started as an electrical apprentice wiring houses in 1997.

I think it's a great trend. Colleges are almost useless with degrees now, with some exceptions.... Like mine (Civil Engineer - Water Resources)

37% of Gen Z college grads are now pursuing blue-collar work​

https://thehill.com/lobbying/5373671-gen-z-trade-jobs-rise/#:~:text=Perhaps%20with%20an%20eye%20on,security%20(38%20per%20cent).

“More Gen Z college graduates are turning to trade careers and for good reason,” says Resume Builder’s chief career advisor, Stacie Haller.

“Many are concerned about AI replacing traditional white-collar roles, while trade jobs offer hands-on work that’s difficult to automate. Additionally, many grads find their degrees don’t lead to careers in their field, prompting them to explore more practical, in-demand alternatives.”

Specifically, 19 percent said they couldn’t find a job in their field post-education, while 16 percent reported they weren’t earning enough with their degree, and 16 percent also said their degree didn’t lead to the career they expected.

However, it was flexibility or independence that topped the list of reasons; 45 per cent wanted more of these, while 32 percent simply preferred hands-on work to desk jobs, and 30 percent said trade jobs offer better long-term prospects.

 

[Deaths Head]

- People usualy pay good money to get their home painted. We used to make good money making things that they themselves could do. But theres a lack on interest on these fields. Or school cant form a crowd of 15 people on Edificy building, to create a presential class. The same with fixing the body of cars, we got several acidents per day here. But barely any people on those fields. The ones that do the jobs, were already on them, but no new people

Modern tools and technology make painting much easier even from a few years ago they even have apps to show where touch ups on your walls need it etc etc…it’s easily done by the average person it’s not strictly a painters club anymore ,anyone can be a painter these days even me and I suck at painting unless it’s on a canvas or thick poster board with acrylic and water colors . Lol

 

[Aurelian]

I know the trades are a great option for the most part.

It probably has a lot of perks if you get good enough to essentially work for yourself. Setting your own rates, working your own hours, having skills that will always be in need of supply.