The rapid change in employment among young Americans in the AI era

Living alongside artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a fairy tale of the future. As AI takes on intellectual labor, the difficulty of getting jobs for college graduates is worsening, and the large-scale consumption of electricity is rapidly driving up electricity prices in areas near data centers. The reality that can be seen is that AI brings high growth, but the benefits are skewed toward areas such as employment. This article follows the current state of the United States as it rapidly rolls out AI.

The U.S. employment situation is changing. Data from the United States education department student information center, the National Student Clearinghouse, which collects student information nationwide, show that in spring 2025, enrollment at vocational training schools teaching trades such as pipefitting and carpentry increased 12% year over year. That is far higher than the increase in college enrollment (4%).

This trend has been strengthening for several years, against a backdrop of people’s concerns about the future being changed by AI. A survey this year by the research firm Conjointly of parents of Generation Z aged 10 to 20-plus shows that only 16% of people think that “having a college degree guarantees long-term stable employment,” while 77% say it is very important to choose “jobs that are difficult to automate.”

To continue reading, click here to go to Nikkei Chinese Website

Nikkei Inc. and the Financial Times merged into the same media group in November 2015. An alliance formed by two newspaper publishers—both founded in the 19th century—in Japan and the United Kingdom is advancing collaboration across a wide range of areas, under the banner of “high-quality, the strongest business journalism.” In this case, as part of that, the two newspapers’ Chinese websites exchange articles with each other.