AI and job security: Is artificial intelligence turning young people toward the trades?

Secondary and post-secondary education is taking a different shape these days for many young people, particularly Gen Z and older Gen Alpha students concerned about finding careers that are “AI-proof.”

The answer, it seems, may lie in the form of trade school, apprenticeships and manual labor jobs that cannot be done by artificial intelligence, with data indicating that attitudes toward traditional four-year degrees are changing along with the AI landscape.

Additionally, people entering the workforce are steering away from roles seen as being “taken over” by AI, including administrative tasks, remote customer service, transcription and data analysis jobs.

Recent surveys show that concerns about being replaced by AI are having a measurable effect on how young people choose their career paths. Coupled with the ever-rising costs of a four-year degree and an increasing societal respect for the trades, technical education and apprenticeships may continue to trend upward.

In a 2026 SimplyWise survey of Gen Z adults (ages 18-29), 52 percent of respondents said that skilled trades “felt safer” than office jobs, and 25 percent said that if they could start over with their post-secondary education, they would choose a trade school over a traditional degree.

These responses align with those from a similar 2025 survey conducted by career guidance company Resume Builder. The key findings in that survey, which also polled Gen Z adults, included a revealing trend: 37 percent of respondents are working in the skilled trades, despite having a bachelor’s degree. When asked why they chose a trade over work in their degree path, 25 percent indicated that they felt less likely to be replaced by AI.

Is AI really eliminating jobs?

It’s difficult to define whether AI is truly eliminating jobs from the job market without first defining what’s meant by AI.

For those not in the AI tech sector, the first thing that likely springs to mind is Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT. And while generative AI models like LLMs certainly play a role in automating certain tasks, there are also image and video generators, reasoning models, neural networks, agent models and countless proprietary models built for or integrated into existing software to meet the needs of individual businesses.

Because of the diversity of AI applications, it’s hard to pinpoint just one or two careers where AI may be eliminating job opportunities, but an in-depth analysis of the global job market from Bloomberry.com showed a dramatic decline in job listings for creative fields such as computer graphics artists, writers, journalists and photographers between 2024 and 2025.

These findings align with the data behind the Stanford University Canaries Dashboard, which tracks the impact of AI on the workforce using real-time indicators and is so-named because this generation of job seekers is the “canary in the AI coal mine.”

One of the key findings from the study that sparked the creation of the dashboard is a decline in entry-level positions in the fields most exposed to AI, chiefly software engineering, marketing and sales and customer service, with a conclusion drawn that AI is, at present and likely into the future, heavily affecting roles where the AI is used to automate previously human work.

Skilled trades are on a heavy growth trajectory

If the data about AI trends seems discouraging, there is another, more hopeful side to the job-seeking coin. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the need for skilled tradespersons is expected to rise over the next decade, including projected industry growth of 8 percent for HVAC technicians and 9 percent growth for electricians, which would equate to more than 77,000 roles needing to be filled each year.

Construction jobs are also projected to grow by 7 percent, or nearly 110,000 new roles annually, and automotive mechanic roles are expected to grow by 70,000 jobs per year.

All that is to say that the trades are thriving alongside the rise of artificial intelligence. The American Welding Society (AWS) points out a critical concern in the trades in its latest career outlook report, which is an aging existing workforce. The trade organization indicates that more than 157,000 welders are age 55+ and approaching retirement, while anticipating a need for more than 320,000 new welding professionals by 2029.

According to the AWS, there are currently more than 32,000 welders employed across New York and New Jersey, with ample room for growth.

Local trade education is thriving

Balancing the cost of college versus trade school, the threat of job loss to AI, and the potential for career stability and steady income in the trades leads to an interesting conversation about how young people approach their education.

The region’s technical high schools have become increasingly popular, with Sussex County Technical School featuring competitive admissions processes for many of their program offerings and Passaic County Technical Institute dividing its programming into two distinct academies to better accommodate a focus on the trades.

Orange-Ulster BOCES in New York offers a waitlist and second-choice programming for students not assigned to their first choice.

Sussex County Community College (SCCC) is seeing a shift in enrollment trends, which President Dr. Corey Homer attributes to both the increasing role of AI and the increasing need for skilled tradespeople. The college has seen a 25 percent decrease in enrollment in the graphic design and computer science programs since last year, while also seeing steady or growing enrollment in the trade programs, especially the welding, automotive and diesel service technology, advanced manufacturing and lineworker programs.

“The concern we’re seeing from students, and conversations with high school guidance counselors around the county echo this, is that AI can design, AI can code (computer software), and that they don’t want to train for a career path where AI automation has become so commonplace,” Homer said, “We have solid enrollment across the board, but those programs are down and trade programs are up. That’s important because we know these trades are critical for infrastructure and economic development.”

Homer also said that SCCC is uniquely positioned as a two-year institution to lean into and adapt to AI-driven trends and other labor market disruptors.

“We’re sandwiched between what students want to study and the expectations of employers on the other side,” Homer said, “With our one- and two-year programs, we can discuss things with our industry advisory boards and four-year university partners, as well as look at Department of Labor information, and adjust our programming to meet in the middle.”

For SCCC, those adjustments come in the form of revisiting and revamping existing programs to incorporate AI topics such as ethics and integration, working with Atlantic Health to align health science curricula with industry standards, and creating new course offerings such as an entrepreneurship certificate and one-year programs designed to accelerate learning for non-traditional students looking to change career paths.

“We’ve had over 900 students over the age of 25 enroll in one-year programs that allow them to learn a new trade and re-enter the workforce quicker,” Homer said, “And then they can come back to finish a degree or earn additional certification to continue moving up in their new careers.”

The long- and short-term impacts of AI and higher education

An April 2026 National University survey on AI shows mixed opinions among educators about the use and teaching of AI applications, indicating that 33 percent of responding teachers think it’s important to teach AI in school, but only 10 percent think teaching AI applications should be a top priority.

With the same publication indicating that AI is projected to add $15.7 trillion to the global economy within the next four years, that leaves students and educators at a critical juncture.

“For us at SCCC,” Homer said, “it’s a balance. We’re a college; we have to teach the things that the private sector workforce needs and expects. AI is a shifting trend, like many we’ve seen before. We don’t want to make changes so permanent that they can’t be undone. But by being cognizant that we can make and unmake adjustments in our courses, we can listen to both the labor market and students’ wants to change the narrative and be a relevant learning environment.”