Name: 這些 "Z世代 "人為何放棄大學學位，轉而從事藍領工作？ (Why These Gen Zers Are Ditching College Degrees For Blue-Collar Careers)
Uploaded: 2025-04-26T15:31:46.000Z
Duration: 8 min 26 s

A historic drop in U.S. college enrollment.

美國大學入學率出現歷史性下降。

U.S. college freshman enrollment is on the decline.

美國大學新生入學率正在下降。

Many schools have seen those enrollment declines already.

Since the last half of the 20th century, a college degree has been touted as a must-have for a stable and successful career.

自 20 世紀下半葉以來，大學學位一直被吹捧為穩定和成功職業生涯的必備條件。

I did grow up around a lot of people telling me college was the route that you should go.

在我的成長過程中，確實有很多人告訴我，上大學才是你應該走的路。

My parents were always hounding me about going to college.

All the teachers reminded you about making sure you get good grades so you can pass elementary school, middle school, and go to college.

所有的老師都提醒你一定要取得好成績，這樣你才能通過小學、中學和大學的考試。

But earning that degree has become less and less attainable.

但是，獲得這個學位變得越來越不容易。

Over the past decade, the average annual cost for a four-year private college has risen by about 42 percent.

過去十年間，四年制私立大學的年平均費用上漲了約 42%。

For public universities, it's gone up by about 30 percent.

And jobs that traditionally require college degrees are no longer as reliable as they once were.

而傳統上需要大學學位的工作也不再像以前那麼可靠了。

Google, Amazon, and others announced cuts earlier this month.

本月早些時候，谷歌、亞馬遜等公司也宣佈了裁員計劃。

PayPal is the latest company to announce job cuts, slashing around 9 percent of its global workforce.

PayPal 是最新一家宣佈裁員的公司，其全球員工總數減少了約 9%。

The market has really rewarded companies that announced layoffs.

市場確實對宣佈裁員的公司給予了獎勵。

So it may not be surprising that many in Gen Z, the youngest generation in the workforce, are saying no to the college experience.

是以，Z 世代作為勞動力中最年輕的一代，他們中的許多人拒絕上大學也就不足為奇了。

Instead, they're entering blue-collar jobs in skilled trades that don't require a four-year degree.

相反，他們開始從事不需要四年學位的技術行業藍領工作。

They're gaining skills that allow them to then go out and start their own business.

他們獲得的技能可以讓他們出去創業。

And that really allows them the opportunity to set their earning potential as they go forward.

這確實讓他們有機會在前進的道路上設定自己的收入潛力。

And as older blue-collar workers begin to retire, it may be that Gen Z rises to fill the skilled labor gap.

隨著年長的藍領工人開始退休，Z 世代可能會崛起，填補熟練勞動力的缺口。

As a teenager, Morgan Bradbury was weighing going to college for either engineering or physical therapy.

十幾歲時，摩根-布拉德伯裡（Morgan Bradbury）就在權衡上大學是學工程還是物理治療。

But it was while she was working on becoming an Eagle Scout that she discovered what would become her new career.

但就在她努力成為鷹級童子軍的時候，她發現了自己的新職業。

They had a welding mirror badge there, and I was like, oh, fire, that sounds pretty fun.

他們有一個焊接鏡徽章，我當時想，哦，火，聽起來挺好玩的。

I just immediately was mesmerized by the fact that I could have the ability to build things with my own hands and kind of put together the engineering side of my brain and the hands-on side of my brain.

我立刻就被這樣一個事實迷住了，那就是我有能力用自己的雙手建造東西，並把我大腦中工程學的一面和動手的一面結合在一起。

I thought it was just instantly something really cool to do.

我覺得這只是一件很酷的事情。

Instead of going to a four-year college after high school, as she was planning to do,

而不是像她計劃的那樣，高中畢業後去上四年制大學、

Morgan took a nine-month welding certification course at Universal Technical Institute, a for-profit trade school.

摩根在一家營利性貿易學校環球技術學院（Universal Technical Institute）參加了為期九個月的焊接認證課程。

The $22,000 price tag for tuition wasn't cheap, but it was also a fraction of what she would have paid for four years of university schooling.

22,000 美元的學費並不便宜，但也只是她四年大學學費的一小部分。

A lot of what people don't realize is welding isn't just welding.

很多人沒有意識到，焊接不僅僅是焊接。

There's a lot more science behind it than I think people think.

這背後的科學原理遠比人們想象的要多。

I was really interested in the metallurgy and how, like, the magnetic field works while you're welding, and I think it's helped me a lot in my job today.

我對冶金學以及焊接時磁場的工作原理非常感興趣，這對我今天的工作幫助很大。

Morgan landed a job as a third-class welder with BAE Systems before she had even finished her certification.

摩根還未完成認證，就在 BAE 系統公司找到了一份三等焊工的工作。

At 19 years old, she was earning about $57,000 a year.

19 歲時，她的年收入約為 5.7 萬美元。

Now, two years later, she's a second-class welder working on U.S. Navy ships in Norfolk, Virginia.

兩年後的今天，她已是一名二等焊工，在弗吉尼亞州諾福克的美國海軍艦艇上工作。

Currently, I'm working 7.15 in the morning to 4 o'clock in the evening.

目前，我每天從早上 7 點 15 分工作到傍晚 4 點。

So every day here looks very different for me, especially because I have certifications in almost every type of welding that we do here.

是以，對我來說，這裡的每一天都很不同，尤其是因為我幾乎擁有我們這裡所有類型焊接的證書。

You're on this boat this day, another boat another day.

你今天在這條船上，明天就會在另一條船上。

You might be doing two or three different processes in a day.

你可能一天要做兩到三個不同的流程。

It's anything from high-pressure steam pipes to, like, a stud on the wall.

從高壓蒸汽管道到牆上的釘子，無所不包。

It's just whatever they need for the day.

Morgan isn't alone among her peers in choosing a blue-collar career over college.

在同齡人中，選擇藍領職業而不是上大學的並不止摩根一人。

So there are about 2 million fewer students in a traditional four-year university now than in 2011.

是以，與 2011 年相比，現在傳統四年制大學的學生人數減少了約 200 萬。

And the reasons might not be super surprising.

So the total all-in cost for a four-year public school is about $110,000, whereas for a private school, it's about $225,000.

是以，四年制公立學校的總費用約為 11 萬美元，而私立學校約為 22.5 萬美元。

Fall undergraduate enrollment was about 1% higher in 2024 than it was in 2019.

2024 年的秋季大學生入學率比 2019 年高出約 1%。

But vocational school enrollment was up by about 18% over that same time.

但在同一時期，職業學校的入學率卻上升了約 18%。

Tremper says that Gen Z is also responding to a market that is much more in need of skilled labor than it was in the past.

Tremper 說，與過去相比，現在的市場更需要熟練勞動力，Z 世代也是順應了這一趨勢。

For the last 20 years, there's been a decrease in interest in the trades, specifically around millennials.

過去 20 年來，人們對行業的興趣有所下降，尤其是千禧一代。

There was the Great Recession, which caused building to stop for a couple years.

經濟大衰退導致建築停工了幾年。

Starting in 2020, there's been an increased attention from federal policy about investing in infrastructure.

從 2020 年開始，聯邦政策越來越關注對基礎設施的投資。

Think of things like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.

想想《兩黨基礎設施法案》（Bipartisan Infrastructure Act）這樣的法案吧。

Think about the Science and STEM and CHIPS Act.

想想《科學與技術、工程與數學法案》（Science and STEM）和《CHIPS 法案》（CHIPS Act）。

All things that were really created to invest in the future of American infrastructure.

所有這些都是為了投資美國基礎設施的未來而設立的。

Since 2019, average starting salaries for skilled workers has risen over 25%, from $1,870 an hour in 2019 to $2,343 an hour in 2025.

自 2019 年以來，技術工人的平均起薪增長了 25% 以上，從 2019 年的每小時 1870 美元增至 2025 年的每小時 2343 美元。

Over that same period, net hiring for new blue-collar workers during graduation season has remained consistently higher than for white-collar workers of the same age.

同期，畢業季新藍領工人的淨招聘人數一直高於同年齡的白領工人。

It also saw its biggest bump in 2020 and has remained strong, even as hiring for white-collar jobs has cooled over the past two years.

在過去兩年中，白領工作崗位的招聘速度有所放緩，但這一趨勢在 2020 年仍保持強勁。

They're able to find work because we need it.

他們能找到工作是因為我們需要。

They're also gaining skills that are going to be increasingly necessary as baby boomers and older Gen-X workers start aging out of the workforce.

隨著嬰兒潮一代和 X 代老一代工人開始逐漸退出勞動力市場，他們所掌握的技能也將變得越來越必要。

And it's time to really start starting their own businesses.

就拿 24 歲的大通-加拉格爾來說吧。

He started his lawn care business in Westchester, Pennsylvania at a young age.

他年輕時就在賓夕法尼亞州韋斯特切斯特開始了他的草坪護理事業。

When I got started in the landscaping industry, I was like 12 or 13 years old.

我開始從事園林綠化行業時，大概只有十二三歲。

So it grew from just 10 to 13 lawn mowing clients my first season to by the time I was 18, 19, I had about 75, 82-ish.

是以，我的生意從第一季只有 10 到 13 個修剪草坪的客戶發展到 18、19 歲時的 75、82 個左右。

I convinced my mom to let me do online high school.

我說服了媽媽讓我上網絡高中。

I would work on my business two to three days out of the week.

我一週中有兩到三天都在忙生意。

I'd go work for someone else the rest of the week and then come home every night and do my online schooling while I ate dinner and on the weekends.

一週的其他時間我都去給別人打工，然後每天晚上回家，一邊吃晚飯一邊上網學習，週末也是如此。

And so this obviously helped me increase my income.

是以，這顯然幫助我增加了收入。

And I think by like 16, 17, it was around 85 grand in revenue, 100 grand in revenue I was doing that year.

我想，到 16、17 年時，我那一年的收入大概在 8.5 萬到 10 萬左右。

And the very next year, my senior year, I think we brought in like 125 total.

第二年，也就是我大四那年，我想我們一共帶來了 125 人。

By the time he graduated from high school, Chase says he had $120,000 in savings.

大通說，高中畢業時，他已經有了 12 萬美元的積蓄。

Rather than spend it on college tuition, he decided to invest it in starting his own business.

他沒有把這筆錢花在大學學費上，而是決定投資創業。

And I just kind of looked at the numbers and said, listen, I'm not going to go stop my business and pay for college.

我看著這些數字說，聽著，我不會停下我的生意去支付大學學費。

I said, hey guys, if you're not going to pay for college, don't force me to pay for something I don't want to pay for.

我說，嘿，夥計們，如果你們不打算支付大學學費，就不要強迫我支付我不想支付的東西。

In 2024, Chase's business, CMG Landscaping, brought in over $1 million in sales.

2024 年，大通的企業 CMG Landscaping 帶來了超過 100 萬美元的銷售額。

Chase says he earned about $491,000 through his salary and owner's share.

大通說，他的工資和所有者股份收入約為 49.1 萬美元。

So we work with about 100 clients on average a year.

是以，我們平均每年與大約 100 名客戶合作。

My crews are bringing in anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 per crew per day.

我的機組人員每人每天的收入從 3000 美元到 6000 美元不等。

Our busiest time of year is from March 15th to June 15th.

每年 3 月 15 日至 6 月 15 日是我們最忙的時候。

To give you an accurate guess on how many hours a week I work during that time,

在這段時間裡，我每週要工作多少小時？

But I will tell you it's from when I wake up to when I go to sleep.

但我會告訴你，這是從我起床到睡覺的過程。

And I swear sometimes in my sleep I'm drafting up emails.

我發誓，有時我在睡夢中都在起草郵件。

Chase's ambitions go beyond his landscaping business.

大通的雄心壯志遠不止他的園藝生意。

I want to turn myself into a private equity firm.

我想把自己變成一傢俬募股權公司。

And I want to buy or partner with home service companies and sell them to larger private equity firms.

我還想收購家庭服務公司或與它們合作，然後把它們賣給更大的私募股權公司。

So that's where I see my future going, is using my online presence to partner and acquire and grow companies.

是以，我認為我的未來發展方向就是利用我在網上的影響力，與公司合作，收購和發展公司。

Morgan Bradbury says she plans to stick with welding for the long haul, but also wants to pass along her skills to others.

摩根-布拉德伯裡（Morgan Bradbury）說，她計劃長期從事焊接工作，同時也想把自己的技能傳授給其他人。

I think it might be cool to have some sort of non-profit startup for getting more females into welding.

我認為，如果能成立某種非營利性的初創公司，讓更多女性參與焊接工作，也許會很酷。

I think there needs to be more outreach of getting people into trades.

我認為需要開展更多的外聯活動，讓人們加入到各行各業中來。

I think that's a really important thing that I want to eventually step into.

我認為這是一件非常重要的事情，我希望最終能涉足其中。

The immediate future for skilled workers like Morgan and Chase may be challenging, especially if possible tariffs by the Trump administration put a strain on blue-collar industries like construction.

對於摩根和大通這樣的技術工人來說，近期的前景可能充滿挑戰，尤其是如果特朗普政府可能徵收關稅，給建築等藍領行業帶來壓力的話。