In the US, more and more people are choosing vocational education instead of going to college
Kyiv • UNN
More and more young people in the United States are opting for professional education and skilled working professions such as electricians, plumbers, and construction workers. Young people are interested in good wages, self-employment opportunities and the popularity of such professions. This is confirmed by the data of views on social networks such as Tik Tok and Instagram.
Instagram Facebook and TikTok show that the work of electricians or plumbers attracts millions of viewers. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal and reports UNN.
Details
In the United States, interest in professions related to skilled labor has increased: the career aspirations of Generation Z, as the WSJ notes in its article, are significantly higher than previously related to vocational training. A job that doesn't require a desk and a lot of debt, and also gives you the opportunity to be your own boss.
The publication examines the working days of Lexis Chumak-Abreu, who installs sockets on power poles and repairs an electrical panel in the basement. Facebook Instagram and about 2.2 million people watch the work of Chumak-Abreu, writes the WSJ.
"You feel like an ordinary person until people run into you and you think,' Oh my god, this is reality, people know who I am, ' "says Chumak - Abreu, the 27-year-old daughter and granddaughter of electricians.
Since she started posting videos of her work in 2022, she has received thousands of messages from viewers saying that she has piqued their interest in the profession.
The government urged women to master male professionsJun 7 2024, 12:19 AM • 26147 views
In 2021, 23-year-old Ivan Burns, a plumber from Sacramento, California, posted a video on Tik Tok in which he removes a water heater using a trolley. When he woke up the next morning, it had 470,000 views, prompting him to do more.
People's interest in other people's work lives leads to a lot of clicks, especially when videos show things that viewers don't normally see, such as the interior walls of a house. These video frames also satisfy the audience's curiosity about how the world works, says Jim Lowderbeck, until recently CEO of VidCon, an annual conference for influencers.
Help
According to ADP, the pay of new employees in construction now exceeds the pay of new employees in professional services such as accounting. Experienced trade influencers say they are also trying to combat decades of stereotypes that practitioners were considered greasy monkeys or stuck in a low career.
Taj Mahal welding
"There's an opinion that most welders are dirty, like in a silencer workshop," says Chloe Hudson, 31, who welds for Joe Gibbs Manufacturing Solutions in Huntersville, North Carolina.
In her Instagram posts, Hudson shows how she cooks with full makeup and mascara - a woman describes her workplace as "Taj Mahal welding", by doing so, she wants to prove that it's okay to be feminine in a male-dominated industry.
Experienced influencers say they struggle with decades of stereotypes about practitioners as those stuck in low-level careers.
At the same time, social media can boost businesses and even inspire new employees.
"Kids don't go to job sites and say,' Hey, dude, can you hire me? They learn about it on social media, which gives them the opportunity to understand that this is a legitimate opportunity," says John Kofman, who owned a construction company, but now works as a Ramnik (a specialist who repairs and restores various metal structures, mainly frames and frames — Ed.)
blue collar proftech
On Tiktak, the hashtag # bluecollar (blue collar) collected 500 thousand posts in the first four months of this year, which is 64% more than in the same period of 2023. Posts with the hashtag # electric increased by 77% over the same time, while #budivelnik and #mechanic showed similar jumps, TikTok reports.
plumbers stars-YouTube
Pfister Faucets has spent 2 2 million to create a YouTube documentary series, the fifth season of which follows the life of plumbers across the country.
It boasts its own theme song by country singer Craig Morgan. ("Sometimes I work before the sun kisses the Sky/Watch the world wake up from the seat of my truck/I'm here to earn my piece of cake/good honest dollars/No, it's not luck.") The show, which aims to get people interested in plumbing as a career, has garnered 13 million views, half of which came from people aged 34 and younger.
"Without plumbers, our product won't be installed," says Spencer Brown, Senior Sales Director at Pfister.
