Colorado companies use high tech training as young adults turn to trade schools instead of college
Gen Z, the youngest generation in Colorado's workforce, is swapping textbooks for tools. More and more young people across the state, and nationwide, are choosing a career in skilled trades, leading to the nickname the "toolbelt generation."
CBS Colorado stopped by High 5 Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric, where one of their apprentices, Taylor Kreutz, was training using virtual reality through software called Interplay Learning.
"If you can get this younger generation to game while learning plumbing, it's going to go really big," said Cassie Torres, the company's vice president. "That's pretty much what the virtual training is like."
"It'll show us how to flush a tankless water heater on there," said Master Diggins, a High 5 apprentice. "There's steps on exactly what to do, where, what water to turn off, what stop to turn off."
Kreutz and Diggins are among the company's Gen Z apprentices, joining in on the nationwide trend of Gen Zers taking interest in the trades both in lieu of college and after.
"All of my friends that are getting out of college don't know what to do for work, because you can't really get anything with your degree yet with no experience," said Diggins.
According to the Jobber Annual Blue Collar Reports, enrollment at trade-focused institutions has increased nearly 20% over the last five years, as more young people are looking to dodge college debt and find a more steady career path.
"I know that I'll always have a job," said Diggins. "Now I've got the experience, so wherever I go, I don't have to worry about a job. I know I'll be able to plumb somewhere."
High 5 is leaning into that.
"Naturally, you know, when you're on Instagram, we're on TikTok, we attract the younger generation," said Torres. "We're very, very thoughtful on how we set up our shop. The older generation, who are the experienced, licensed plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, they're going to be retiring. And so really, it is our duty to be creating a space where people want to join the trades."
It's a classic example of meeting people where they're at, during this shift toward the new toolbelt generation.
"I think over the last five years, people have actually become educated on how good it is to be in the trades," said Torres.
