International | Toolbox versus textbook Ditch textbooks and learn how to use a wrench to AI-proof your job? Generation Z is becoming less invested in university and more interested in skilled trades Share Photograph: Getty Images Dec 18th 2025 | 7 min read J ACOB PALMER knew little about skilled manual jobs growing up, save that they were “dirty, sweaty” and “definitely seemed like lowbrow”. But it took only a year of remote learning during the covid pandemic for Mr Palmer, who grew up in North Carolina, to realise that university wasn’t for him. He dropped out after his freshman year, spent the next two years training as an apprentice electrician, and started his own business in 2024. Though just 23 years old he now has a warehouse, a pickup truck and a YouTube channel with more than 33,000 subscribers who watch him fix devices ranging from smoke detectors to Tesla chargers. He expects to generate $155,000 in revenue this year, of which 10% will come from YouTube. Mr Palmer lists the advantages of becoming an electrician: “You get paid pretty well to do it. You get paid to learn to do it. ” And it creates “massive job security” at a time when many young university graduates are anxious about artificial intelligence ( AI ) replacing entry-level white-collar workers. Mr Palmer doesn’t worry about that: “I’ll be wiring those data centres, right?” This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The new masters of the workplace” From the December 20th 2025 edition Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents ⇒ Explore the edition Share Reuse this content More from International The Telegram A stay-calm plan to save the world Alas, almost no foreign leader is as reasonable as Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb The War Room newsletter: What is Donald Trump’s aim for Iran? Shashank Joshi, our defence editor, analyses the president’s options The Telegram Donald Trump’s envoys failed to reassure Europe A gathering of world leaders in Munich shows how trust has collapsed The Robin Hood state is coming for the rich Tax systems are more progressive than you think Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s network What 1. 4m emails reveal about America’s most notorious sex offender The Telegram Are liberal values a luxury the West cannot afford? Yes, China has impressive high-speed trains. That is no reason for the West to adopt iron-fisted rule

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