U.S. Secretary of Commerce says the ‘new model’ is factory jobs for life—for you, your kids, and your grandkids

• US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick says factory concerts are The “big jobs of the future” in which generation Z could work for the “rest” of their lives – just like their grandchildren. But the youngest cohort of the workforce will probably not be common to fill the roles.

Some white collars can be on the verge of layoffs thanks to the AI, but the trade secretary says that they will always have a place in American factories. While the United States set up high prices and limit immigration, the administration hopes to feed a boom in intergenerational manufacturing.

“It is time to train people not to do the work of the past, but to do the excellent work of the future,” said Howard Lutnick CNBC this week.

“This is the new model, where you work in these plants for the rest of your life, and your children work here, and your grandchildren work here.”

While Lutnick said that all of this was part of President Trump's wider plan to make America more independent of imports and foreign services, the expulsion targeted by the immigrant administration has let many national manufacturers rush for work. To follow the supply, people must fill the factory's jobs, and Lutnick think that technicians take care of factory robots are the next hot concert.

“You have to remember these plants, all these automated arms and all that, they must be repaired. They all need a technician to repair them,” he said. “These are trades, these are great jobs formed in high school.”

Robot technicians can earn $ 90,000 with just a secondary school diploma, says Lunick

Robots are already starting to work side by side with humans on factory floors – and this causes panic among workers that technology will ultimately steal their work. But Lunick has snubbed this notion, arguing that people will always be necessary to repair robots.

In fact, he announces the work of technicians as incredibly accessible and lucrative to citizens with a secondary school diploma. Lutnick also underlined local efforts to bring students from the community university to industry, using Arizona as an example of a state accelerating their efforts.

“You are going to community colleges and you train people,” he said. “All these community colleges [in Arizona] form people at the moment, technicians, and these are very good well -paid jobs. »»

The American businessman said that technician jobs can pay $ 70,000 to $ 90,000 from the jump – a promising concert with a low barrier at the entrance. Professional education or learning is a nice touch on curriculum vitae, but only a secondary school diploma is required for most use of entry -level technicians. But it is still not the dream so that Gen Z turns to commercial work.

Gen Z wants blue collar jobs – but not in a factory

Manufacturing should explode with employment growth long before the implementation of Trump immigration and price policies this year. It could be a huge victory for the Z Chasing Trade Work generation as a six -digit career path – if only they wanted jobs.

According to a 2024, some 3.8 million new manufacturing opportunities should open by 2033, according to a 2024 report Deloitte and the manufacturing institute. However, half of these roles should not be fulfilled due to labor supply problems and career changes. And Gen Zers, get into Including 30% of the American workforce by 2030, turn your nose to factory work in particular.

Only 14% of generation Z says they would consider industrial work as a career path, according to A 2023 study by SOTER Analytics. About a quarter of young workers think that these jobs are not particularly safe and do not offer flexibility. They prefer to be an HVAC worker, a plumber or a carpenter – concerts in blue collar where workers have more control over their schedules.

With the increasingly disastrous need for manufacturing workers, the Vision of Lutnick of Technicians as an intergenerational career can be a pipe dream. After all, only 25% of Americans think they better work in a factory, according to a 2024 Songation of The Cato Institute. It will take a lot of convincing for young Americans to make the jump.

This story was initially presented on Fortune.com