Young Britons Turn to Skilled Trades to Escape the Threats of Artificial Intelligence

A growing number of young people in the UK are turning to skilled trades in search of safer career paths that offer job stability away from the risks of automation, according to a report by Sky News.

Among them is Marina Yaroshenko, an 18-year-old British student who chose to study plumbing at the City of Westminster College in London. She believes that this trade is one of the few fields that artificial intelligence cannot replace.

Originally from Ukraine, Yaroshenko argues that manual skills remain difficult for robots or smart technologies to replicate due to their practical nature and the need for direct human intervention. She said:

“AI can help, but it can’t do plumbing work, field engineering, or electrical trade tasks.”

Recent studies indicate that office and administrative jobs are the most exposed to the direct impacts of artificial intelligence. A survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development showed that one in six employers in the UK expects to reduce staff next year because of increased reliance on AI tools.

In contrast, technical and manual trades are seeing growing demand. The City of Westminster College—specialized in engineering, construction, and the built environment—has recorded a 9.6% increase in enrolment over the past three years. According to the group’s CEO, Stephen Davis, this trend is driven by young people’s concerns about AI as well as by the desire to avoid the financial burden of university studies, which can lead to debts of thousands of pounds.

Another survey conducted by the Trades Union Congress found that half of British adults are worried about the impact of AI on their jobs, especially those aged between 25 and 35. Bouke Klein Teeselink, an AI researcher at King’s College London, explained that young people increasingly fear losing their jobs to automation, particularly entry-level positions.

A recent study by Teeselink, published last October, concluded that job cuts driven by AI affect the professions most commonly relied on by young people to begin their careers. This is prompting many of them to seek alternative opportunities in skilled trades that remain largely shielded from the risks of automation.