HVAC programs have waiting lists. Electricians are launching businesses in their twenties. Plumbing apprenticeships are suddenly cool. Skilled trades are having a moment—driven by Gen Z’s fear of AI automating white-collar work and their desire for careers that can’t be done by algorithms.

According to a recent CBS News report, skilled trades are attracting a growing number of young people who are rethinking the traditional four-year degree. Nearly 77% of Gen Z say it’s important that their future job is hard to automate.

So, can this trend help solve print’s persistent workforce challenge?

The opportunity is real, but it’s not automatic. Jan Steiner, retired print/packaging CEO and founder of Trade Works USA, believes Gen Z is making the right call. “Kids are smart and see the writing on the wall. The trades are the forward-thinking option.” But she quickly adds a critical caveat: “Do they see print as a positive trade? We as printers need to be able to communicate that.”

The challenge isn’t just parental bias toward four-year degrees, which Steiner notes remains a roadblock for students pursuing career and technical education (though such attitudes may be softening as concerns about AI resilience grow, according to this Jobber study). The real question is whether print can position itself as confidently and compellingly as HVAC or electrical.

Julie Shaffer, Sr VP of Content & Programs for Association for PRINT Technologies, agrees that awareness is the fundamental hurdle. “The push for young people to consider careers in the trades has been in play for at least a decade now,” she observes, adding that the AI conversation may well accelerate that interest.

“But whether this trend extends past the more well-known trades – plumbing, electrical, building, automotive – to result in more interest in print depends very much on awareness. For there to be renewed interest in the print trade, there has to be knowledge that it exists and is a place to find a viable career.”

Gen Z is choosing careers they believe AI can’t touch. They’re flooding into programs that offer independence, solid earning potential, and real-world problem-solving.

The printing industry offers all of that. So how do we make sure they’re flooding our way, too?

Thank you to Women in Print Alliance members Julie Shaffer and Jan Steiner for contributing to this article.