From TikTok To The Tools: How To Get Gen Z Interested In Trade Careers

From TikTok tradies to apprenticeships and career pathways, here's how manufacturing, trades and technical industries can attract the next generation of employees.

Ask a high school student what they want to do when they finish school and you'll probably hear plenty of familiar careers. Doctors, teachers, engineers, business owners and perhaps even the occasional aspiring influencer.

But how many young people could tell you what a rotational moulder does? Or what a production technician, industrial electrician or maintenance fitter gets up to during their working day?

Across Australia, we have thousands of businesses offering rewarding, trade-based careers that many young people have barely heard of, let alone considered pursuing.

At the same time, employers across manufacturing, construction and the trades are looking for their next generation of employees. Jobs and Skills Australia's 2026 Occupation Shortage List found that almost half of technician and trade occupations were experiencing skills shortages.

Having spent much of my career working with young people exploring their future pathways, I think there's a lot we can learn from the way Gen Z discovers new interests, researches opportunities and thinks about their future.

Meet The Next Generation Of Employees

Gen Z is entering the workforce at a time when the cost of housing, education and everyday living continues to rise, and we're seeing some interesting changes in how younger employees define career success.

While previous generations often associated success with climbing the corporate ladder, buying a home and staying with one employer for decades, many young people today are prioritising financial independence, flexibility, wellbeing and opportunities to develop their skills.

Deloitte's 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey found that 89% of surveyed Gen Z employees consider a sense of purpose important to their job satisfaction and wellbeing, while 70% say they're developing skills to advance their careers at least once a week.

What's particularly interesting is that purpose doesn't always mean wanting to change the world. For some young people, it's about earning a good income, becoming financially independent, learning valuable skills or finding a career that allows them to enjoy life outside work.

With opportunities to earn while learning, develop specialised skills and build rewarding careers without necessarily following the traditional university pathway, trade-based industries have plenty to offer younger employees.

Show Them The Pathway, Not Just The Position

Spend a few minutes scrolling through job advertisements and you'll often find long lists of responsibilities, required qualifications and technical skills. While that information is important, it doesn't always paint a particularly exciting picture of someone's future.

One business approaching this differently is Fonterra, which has developed a careers platform showcasing the different pathways available across their business.

Rather than simply advertising vacancies, Fonterra shares employee stories and helps young people understand how apprenticeships and entry-level positions can lead to specialised technical and leadership roles. Someone starting as an apprentice today could become a qualified technician in a few years, a team leader later in their career or eventually manage an entire production facility.

For employers, there's a lot to learn from this approach. Clearly communicating earning potential, qualifications and progression opportunities can help young people picture what their future in an industry might look like.

From The Field To The Feed

One of my favourite developments in recent years has been the growing popularity of tradespeople, farmers and technical professionals sharing their working lives on social media.

McCrindle's research found that 42% of surveyed young people aged 16–24 were using TikTok daily to teach themselves new skills, highlighting how important short-form video has become for learning and discovery.

Take Lex The Electrician or Australian dairy farmer Big Farmer Andy, who have built enormous online audiences by sharing entertaining, relatable videos of life in their industries. Rather than polished recruitment campaigns, these creators showcase everyday projects, funny moments and behind-the-scenes experiences that give young people a glimpse into professions they might never have considered.

Manufacturing businesses have some fascinating stories to tell, from watching machinery transform raw materials into finished products to showcasing the technology, problem-solving and craftsmanship behind everyday items. Sometimes a short video of an apprentice explaining what they worked on that day can do more to spark someone's interest than another recruitment advertisement.

Getting Them Through The Door Is Just The Beginning

Of course, attracting young people into an industry is one thing. Creating workplaces where they want to stay is just as important.

There's plenty of conversation about Gen Z wanting different things from work, but I think we sometimes overlook how much of what young employees want comes back to the fundamentals of good leadership.

Research from The Workforce Institute's Meet Gen Z report found that 43% of surveyed Gen Z respondents preferred receiving feedback in real time rather than waiting for a scheduled performance review.

One approach I particularly like comes from Atlassian's Personal User Manuals, where employees share how they prefer to communicate, receive feedback and work with others. It's a simple idea that could be just as useful for a supervisor managing a team of apprentices as it is for someone leading a corporate project team. Taking time to understand what motivates your people, how they prefer to learn and what they want to achieve can help managers adapt their approach to different employees.

Great leadership hasn't suddenly become irrelevant because a new generation has entered the workforce. The fundamentals of supporting, developing and building relationships with your people still matter, regardless of which generation they belong to.

How Can Trades And Manufacturing Attract More Gen Z Talent?

When we look at what younger employees value and how they're discovering careers, there are three things I'd encourage employers to consider.

1. Make Your Career Pathways Visible

Map out what progression looks like within your business, from an entry-level position through to experienced technical and leadership roles. Use real employee journeys to showcase qualifications, development opportunities and how careers can evolve over time.

2. Let Your Team Tell Their Stories

Encourage apprentices, technicians and production staff to share their experiences through short videos, employee profiles and behind-the-scenes content. A quick video showcasing an interesting project, a day in the life of an apprentice or a piece of technology could introduce your industry to someone who's never considered it before.

3. Make Feedback Part Of Everyday Work

Don't rely solely on annual performance reviews to discuss development. Build regular check-ins into your team's routine, ask employees what skills they'd like to develop and help them understand how they're progressing. Sometimes a five-minute conversation with a supervisor can make an enormous difference to how supported someone feels at work.

The Next Generation On The Tools

As Gen Z continues to enter the workforce, industries across Australia have an enormous amount to offer young people looking to develop skills, build financial independence and create rewarding careers.

From manufacturing and engineering to construction, agriculture and the trades, there are thousands of career pathways that deserve more attention from the next generation.

With young people increasingly turning to social media to discover new interests and learn about the world around them, employers have more ways than ever before to showcase what makes their industry special.

There are young people sitting in classrooms across Australia today who could become fantastic tradespeople, technicians, production managers and industry leaders. Many of them just haven't discovered those careers yet.

About The Author

Scott Millar is a generational consultant, keynote speaker and trusted voice on the future of work, helping organisations understand the trends shaping Gen Z, leadership and the workplace of tomorrow.

Working with businesses, industry associations and government organisations across Australia, Scott helps teams explore how younger generations are reshaping workplace expectations and what employers can do to attract, engage and retain their next generation of talent.

To find out more about Scott's speaking and consulting services, head to www.iamscottmillar.com/speaking.