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Many in Gen Z ditch colleges for trade schools. Meet the 'toolbelt generation'

Published

2 years ago

April 22, 2024

Many in Gen Z ditch colleges for trade schools. Meet the 'toolbelt generation'

Sy Kirby dreaded the thought of going to college after graduating from high school. He says a four-year degree just wasn’t in the cards for him or his bank account.

“I was facing a lot of pressure for a guy that knew for a fact that he wasn’t going to college,” Kirby says. “I knew I wasn’t going to sit in a classroom, especially since I knew I wasn’t going to pay for it.”

Instead, at the age of 19, Kirby took a job at a local water department in southern Arkansas. He said the position helped him to develop the skills that helped him start his own construction company.

Sy Kirby, who runs his own construction company, says a four-year degree just wasn’t in the cards for him or his bank account.

Will Anderson

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Sy Kirby, who runs his own construction company, says a four-year degree just wasn’t in the cards for him or his bank account.

Will Anderson

Now at age 32, Kirby finds himself mentoring many of his employees, who also opted to learn a skilled trade rather than shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to pursue a degree that they wouldn’t use after graduating.

Kirby says blue-collar work is lucrative and allows him to “call the shots” in his life. But, he says the job also comes with a downside, mainly because of the stigma attached to the industry.

“I think there’s a big problem with moms and dads coming home from quote-unquote ‘dirty’ jobs. Coming home with dirty clothes and sweating. You had a hard day’s work and sometimes that’s looked down upon,” he says.

High-paying jobs that don't need a college degree? Thousands of them sit empty

Kirby is among the growing number of young people who have chosen to swap college for vocational schools that offer paid, on-the-job training.

Skilled trades make a comeback

Lisa Countryman-Quiroz is the CEO of JVS, or Jewish Vocational Services, a nonprofit in San Francisco that provides career training for unemployed workers to find jobs, including in skilled trades. She says that over the years there has been a shift — with skilled trade making a comeback, especially among members of Generation Z.

“Folks have really prioritized a college education as a path to the middle class and a path to a cushy office job.” But, Countryman-Quiroz says, “over the last 10 to 15 years, we are seeing a trend among young people opting out of universities. Just the crushing debt of college is becoming a barrier in and of itself.”

More than half of Gen Zers say it’s possible to get a well-paying job with only a high school diploma, provided one acquires other skills. That’s according to a survey by New America, a Washington Think Tank that focuses on a range of public policy issues, including technology, education and the economy.

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The high cost of college prompts a change in career paths

In addition, the Education Data Initiative says the average cost of college in the United States has more than doubled in the 21st century.

With that price tag increasing, many Gen Zers say they’ve been left with no choice but to leave the college path. Many say living with their parents until they can pay off their college debt isn’t an option.

Nitzan Pelman is founder of Climb Hire, a company that helps kids out of high school pursue skilled trades. She says many young people say graduating from college with a six-figure debt is a non-starter.

“It’s not a secret that the cost of college has gone up so dramatically in the last decade that it’s really cost prohibitive at this point,” she says.

Pelman says pursuing skilled trades can also help “level the playing field,” especially for young people from less-privileged backgrounds and for people of color.

Construction boom helps fuel job gains in March

“We don’t see a lot of Black men in construction, but more Latino men in construction and you don’t see many women in construction. Social capital is a really big gatekeeper and a door-opener for accessing high-quality jobs and helping people break into certain industries,” she says.

In 2021, President Biden signed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. Since then, he’s been traveling the country promoting the law, which he says will open up thousands of new jobs in trades.

“You can expect to get your hands dirty and that’s OK”

The high cost of college isn’t the only factor driving many young people toward skilled trades. With the use of artificial intelligence on the rise, many Gen Zers see manual labor as less vulnerable to the emerging technology than white-collar alternatives. They also say vocational schools are a straight path to well-paying jobs.

Pelman says increasing salaries and new technologies in fields such as welding, plumbing and machine tooling are giving trade professions a face-lift, making them more appealing to the younger crowd.

“There are a lot of vocational jobs out there that are pretty attractive — HVAC repair and installation, electricians, solar panel installer — there’s so much demand for wind turbine installers who, in many cases, make more than $100,000 a year — so there’s a lot of demand for manual labor,” she stresses.

Diego Aguilar works at a trade center at East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland, Calif.

Marla Aufmuth/JVS

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Diego Aguilar works at a trade center at East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland, Calif.

Marla Aufmuth/JVS

That was the case for 25-year-old Diego Aguilar, who says a traditional desk job was out of the question for him. Aguilar now works full time at a trade center at East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland, Calif., after going through the JVS training program.

“When I went into a trade program I learned how much money I could make performing a very specific kind of work. You need mechanics, you need machinists, you need carpenters, operators you need painters. You can expect to get your hands dirty and that’s OK,” Aguilar says.

Jobs Friday: Why apprenticeships could make a comeback

Data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows the number of students enrolled in vocational-focused community colleges increased 16% from 2022 to 2023.

As for Kirby, he says his mission is to keep raising awareness about what he calls the “toolbelt generation.”

“Where they can walk out of the school of hard knocks, pick an industry, work your 10 years, take your punches, take your licks and hopefully you’re bringing jobs and careers back to the community,” he says.

When asked if he regrets his decision to go into skilled trades, Kirby chuckles. “Not for a second,” he says.

News

Map: 4.9-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Louisiana

Published

5 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Map: 4.9-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Louisiana

Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 4 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “light,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. All times on the map are Central time. The New York Times

A light, 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck in Louisiana on Thursday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The temblor happened at 5:30 a.m. Central time about 6 miles west of Edgefield, La., data from the agency shows.

U.S.G.S. data earlier reported that the magnitude was 4.4.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.

Source: United States Geological Survey | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Central time. Shake data is as of Thursday, March 5 at 8:40 a.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Thursday, March 5 at 10:46 a.m. Eastern.

News

Donald Trump has no ‘phase two’ plan for Iran war, says US senator

Published

7 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Donald Trump has no ‘phase two’ plan for Iran war, says US senator

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Man accused of plot to assassinate Trump testifies Iran pressured him, says Biden and Haley were other possible targets

Published

8 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Man accused of plot to assassinate Trump testifies Iran pressured him, says Biden and Haley were other possible targets

The allegation sounded like the stuff of spy movies: A Pakistani businessman trying to hire hit men, even handing them $5,000 in cash, to kill a U.S. politician on behalf of Iran ‘s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

It was true, and potential targets of the 2024 scheme included now-President Donald Trump, then-President Joe Biden and former presidential candidate and ex-U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, the man told jurors at his attempted terrorism trial in New York on Wednesday. But he insisted his actions were driven by fear for loved ones in Iran, and he figured he’d be apprehended before anything came of the scheme.

“My family was under threat, and I had to do this,” the defendant, Asif Merchant, testified through an Urdu interpreter. “I was not wanting to do this so willingly.”

Merchant said he had anticipated getting arrested before anyone was killed, intended to cooperate with the U.S. government and had hoped that would help him get a green card.

U.S. authorities were, indeed, on to him – the supposed hit men he paid were actually undercover FBI agents – and he was arrested on July 12, 2024, a day before an unrelated attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania. During a search, investigators said they found a handwritten note that contained the codewords for the various aspects of the plot, CBS News previously reported.

Merchant did sit for voluntary FBI interviews, but he ultimately ended up with a trial, not a cooperation deal.

“You traveled to the United States for the purpose of hiring Mafia members to kill a politician, correct?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nina Gupta asked during her turn questioning Merchant Wednesday in a Brooklyn federal court.

“That’s right,” Merchant replied, his demeanor as matter-of-fact as his testimony was unusual.

The trial is unfolding amid the less than week-old Iran war, which killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a strike that Trump summed up as “I got him before he got me.” Jurors are instructed to ignore news pertaining to the case.

The Iranian government has denied plotting to kill Trump or other U.S. officials.

Merchant, 47, had a roughly 20-year banking career in Pakistan before getting involved in an array of businesses: clothing, car sales, banana exports, insulation imports. He openly has two families, one in Pakistan and the other in Iran – where, he said, he was introduced around the end of 2022 to a Revolutionary Guard intelligence operative. They initially spoke about getting involved in a hawala, an informal money transfer system, Merchant said.

Merchant testified that his periodic visits to the U.S. for his garment business piqued the interest of his Revolutionary Guard contact, who trained him on countersurveillance techniques.

The U.S. deems the Revolutionary Guard a “foreign terrorist organization.” Formally called the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the force has been prominent in Iran under Khamenei.

Merchant said the handler told him to seek U.S. residents interested in working for Iran. Then came another assignment: Look for a criminal to arrange protests, steal things, do some money laundering, “and maybe have somebody murdered,” Merchant recalled.

“He did not tell me exactly who it is, but he told me – he named three people: Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Nikki Haley,” he added.

In 2024, multiple sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News Merchant planned to assassinate current and former government officials across the political spectrum.

Merchant allegedly sketched out the plot on a napkin inside his New York hotel room, prosecutors said, and told the individual “that there would be ‘security all around’ the person” they were planning to kill.

“No other option”

After U.S. immigration agents pulled Merchant aside at the Houston airport in April 2024, searched his possessions and asked about his travels to Iran, he concluded that he was under surveillance. But still he researched Trump rally locations, sketched out a plot for a shooting at a political rally, lined up the supposed hit men and scrambled together $5,000 from a cousin to pay them a “token of appreciation.”

This image provided by the Justice Department, contained in the complaint supporting the arrest warrant, shows Asif Merchant.

He even reported back to his Revolutionary Guard contact, sending observations – fake, Merchant said – tucked into a book that he shipped to Iran through a series of intermediaries.

Merchant said he “had no other option” than to play along because the handler had indicated that he knew who Merchant’s Iranian relatives were and where they lived.

In a court filing this week, prosecutors noted that Merchant didn’t seek out law enforcement to help with his purported predicament before he was arrested. He testified that he couldn’t turn to authorities because his handler had people watching him.

Prosecutors also said that in his FBI interviews, Merchant “neglected to mention any facts that could have supported” an argument that he acted under duress.

Merchant told jurors Wednesday that he didn’t think agents would believe his story, because their questions suggested “they think that I’m some type of super-spy.”

“And are you a super-spy?” defense lawyer Avraham Moskowitz asked.

“No,” Merchant said. “Absolutely not.”

Robert Legare

contributed to this report.