Some Gen Zers are trying to make blue collar work cool through the use of social media.
Blue collar work isn't usually seen as a desired field for those right out of high school or college. That can especially be true for the younger generations.
Younger influencers on popular sites like Instagram and TikTok are now getting noticed by the millions for showcasing the hardworking industries like construction, plumbing and auto repair to name a few.
On TikTok alone, the hashtag 'bluecollar' was used in around 500,000 posts in the first four months of 2024. This time last year, posts mentioning 'bluecollar' were 64 percent less common.
Matt Ebert, Chief Executive Officer of Crash Champions Collision Repair, gets it. He said they have recently picked up on the trend by getting involved more in the social media game to promote their company and hire on more people.
"We're only a few months in and it's drawing attention to us for sure," he said. "We're putting on a campaign to let people know there's money to be made in these blue collar jobs."
Ebert founded the company in 1999. Today, they have 600 locations in 37 states and looking to grow even more by adding on younger folks ready to work in the industry.
"We think that people are un-informed on just how well they can do in some of these blue-collar jobs and not have to go into a bunch of debt," said Ebert.
There are millions of full-time positions open across the country and a lot of them include blue collar work, which the U.S. is in great need to have more workers be in.