Chase Gallagher was 12 years old when he started mowing his neighbor’s lawn for $35 a person. At first he only had two customers, but after some aggressive leafleting – with help from his mother – he had ten weekly customers by the following year.
Now 23 years old, he is one of a growing number of Generation Zers who are choosing not to go to college. But – unlike some Assessment of the generation by the baby boomers– They don’t putter around in their parents’ house and completely shy away from work. In fact, Gallagher and many others are picking up tools and turning to traditional careers.
“I just didn’t realize the ROI that a degree would bring,” says Gallagher Assets. Instead, he focused on growing his side business into a successful full-time business called CMG Landscaping. But he says it “took a lot of courage” to tell his parents about the decision.
“From the time you were six, your parents instilled in you your whole life, ‘Hey, you’re going to college,'” Gallagher recalls of how his future seemed to be mapped out. “It sounded great until I realized you had to pay for it.”
Even the students who decide to study make different decisions. Enrollment in career-oriented community colleges rose 16% last year to its highest level since the National Student Clearinghouse began collecting data in 2018.
Additionally, the same data shows a 23% increase in the number of students studying construction trades in 2023 compared to the previous year and a 7% increase in HVAC and vehicle maintenance and repair programs.
The expectation is still to go to college – and Generation Z doesn’t want to disappoint
Most Generation Zers grew up Assets The interviewees admitted that they had originally planned to go to university – not because they wanted to, but because it seemed to be the right thing to do.
“I feel like people my age are still inherently expected to go to university – it feels like the next step that everyone takes after school,” says Emily Shaw, a 20-year-old year-old trainee at the British construction company Redrow Assets.
All of the men in Shaw’s family had worked in construction since the 19th century. Now she is the first woman in the family to follow suit, aiming to become a quality surveyor.
“There is still the stereotype that a university degree guarantees and comes with a well-paying job, but I quickly realized that is not the case,” she added.
Likewise, 20-year-old Luke Phillips had already enrolled at university when he decided it wasn’t for him.
“I didn’t really think about it much,” he said Assets. “Even when I was young, it seemed like I was aiming for university throughout high school and then college.”
Phillips remembers being strongly encouraged to apply to universities in his senior year of school – after all, it looks good when a high percentage of students make it into higher education – and then getting swept up in the excitement of admission.
“I was only 18, didn’t have much experience in the world and didn’t really understand what other options there were,” he says, adding that going to university was “a less scary situation than being unemployed.”
He did, before quickly changing his mind three months later.
Now Phillips has started learning how to make jewelry at The Remarkable Goldsmiths in Dartmouth — and feels he should “pay for the privilege.”
“I get a really good understanding of how to run a business and what it’s actually like to be in a workshop,” he adds. “Not like the tutors think it might be, or like it was 10 years ago.”
Generation Zers don’t want to take on debt
A degree has long been touted as a “must” for a lucrative career. But today, Generation Z is acutely aware that the only guarantee that comes with a degree is debt.
“It’s simple math to figure out why a young person would choose the skilled trades over college,” said Gallagher, who lives in suburban Philadelphia. “Let’s say you pay $50,000 a year for college.
“Four times that’s $200,000 for your investment. Plus, you lose four years of revenue-generating years when you go to college, so you’re spending money and not making money.”
With some colleges charging up to $95,000 this year, Gallagher believes it is better for young people to get a head start in their careers by choosing a career, building their wealth and trying to buy a home before their peers even graduate.
“Gen Z may be the most educated generation in history,” says Tobba Vigfusdottir, psychologist and CEO of Kara Connect, an employee mental health and well-being platform Assets. “They are also more concerned about their finances than previous generations, having experienced some financial crises on the way to work.”
Thanks to TikTok – where Countless college-educated Millennials can be caught complaining that their salary is not enough to move out of their childhood bedroom – Vigfusdottir adds that Generation Z knows that even with a degree they will never be able to afford a home.
Social media has not only opened Generation Z’s eyes to the shortcomings of recent graduates, but has also helped trade jobs receive a significant image boost.
“There was definitely a taboo about people entering the trade,” says Phillips, before quickly adding that those prejudices are long gone.
Instead, he notes that young people today tend to be “envious” of those who get their hands dirty, recognizing that it is both a path to a solid income and the freedom of being your own boss be.
They also do banking business
By age 16, Gallagher had already earned $50,000 from his part-time job mowing lawns before he turned to general landscaping and hired his “buddy Mike” to help after school and on weekends.
“I did more project-based work. Spring cleaning, mulching, leaf removal, things like that,” he says. “I had well over 35 weekly lawn mowing customers.”
Now, Gallagher’s landscaping business employs nine people, does “everything from stormwater management and drainage work to pavers and lighting,” and generated more than $1 million in sales last year.
However, some still try to convince him to go to college because that’s what “successful people” do. “That’s simply not true,” he adds firmly. “You can still make 1% income here in America and be an artisanal business.”
Although Gallagher deserves much better than most Gen Zers Assets Research shows that the average tradesman can still find a better paying job than those who have just graduated.
According to payroll processing provider ADP The average salary for new professional services hires is just under $40,000. Meanwhile, the average new starter in construction can expect to take home over $48,000.
Although Shaw has historically been dominated by men, he insists that women can also enjoy successful careers in the skilled trades industry.
Redrow’s research found that 39% of young women working in the construction industry were attracted by the high salary, while a quarter were attracted by the opportunity to become their own business owner.
“Construction is about more than just bricklaying – there are so many opportunities for women to be successful, do good work and make a difference in the community,” she adds. “In fact, the majority of the office I work in is made up of women.
“School-age girls need to understand that a career in construction is possible.”