{"slug": "is-blue-the-new-white-why-some-young-workers-are-choosing-blue-collar-jobs", "title": "Is blue the new white? Why some young workers are choosing blue-collar jobs", "summary": "A survey by Resume Builder found that nearly four in 10 U.S. college graduates were working or pursuing blue-collar or skilled trade jobs in 2025, driven by better long-term prospects and the belief that these jobs are less likely to be replaced by AI. In Singapore, data from FastJobs shows applications for blue-collar and non-executive roles among diploma- and degree-holding Singaporeans aged 18 to 25 rose 17.2% between 2023 and 2025, with median advertised monthly pay for such roles increasing about 16% to S$2,901 in 2026 from S$2,500 in 2023. Iskandar Jalil, 28, left his white-collar design engineer job in 2023 to run 3D-printing workshops under his company Forgecrafts, earning S$5,000 a month, double his former S$2,500 salary.", "body_md": "# Is blue the new white? Why some young workers are choosing blue-collar jobs\n\n**Straight to your inbox.** Money, career and life hacks to help young adults stay ahead.\n\n[SINGAPORE] Fresh out of National Service, Iskandar Jalil worked as a technician before being headhunted for an engineering role in 2022.\n\nBut he tells me that his educational attainment was later “used against” him. “‘We can’t pay you as an engineer because you’re only a diploma holder.’ I’ll never forget this line,” Jalil says.\n\nAfter about one and a half years as a design engineer, Jalil left his white-collar job in 2023, realising he could probably earn as much, if not more, by relying on his own brain and hands.\n\nToday, the 28-year-old runs 3D-printing workshops under his company, Forgecrafts, earning S$5,000 a month – double his former S$2,500 white-collar salary.\n\nJalil is one among a number of young workers exploring a career in the blue-collar industry.\n\nAnd as AI raises concerns about the future of traditional white-collar roles, there has been talk about blue-collar jobs potentially being a more secure and lucrative career option.\n\nIn the US, nearly four in 10 college graduates were already working or pursuing blue-collar or skilled trade jobs in 2025, driven by better long-term prospects and the belief that these jobs are less likely to be replaced by AI, a __ survey__ by online platform Resume Builder found.\n\nYoung workers in the __ UK__ are also driving job growth within the construction and trade industry, while in\n\n__, applications for blue-collar jobs among those under 25 rose 165 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same period in 2019.__\n\n[China](https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/blue-collar-work-surges-in-popularity-among-china-s-young-job-seekers?gift=e1ef4a7d-ff05-458f-9b1e-0b9ba32694c7)In Singapore, blue-collar roles remain dominated by candidates with N-level, O-level, and Nitec qualifications, Linda Teo, country manager at ManpowerGroup Singapore, says.\n\nHowever, data from FastJobs – a job portal for non-executive roles – suggests growing interest in blue-collar work among young Singaporean graduates.\n\nBetween 2023 and 2025, applications for blue-collar and non-executive roles among diploma- and degree-holding Singaporeans aged 18 to 25 rose by 17.2 per cent, according to data from FastJobs.\n\nThese roles span 16 job categories, including warehousing and logistics, construction, cleaning, retail, food and beverage, delivery, manufacturing, customer service and security.\n\nApplications for warehouse and logistics roles increased the most by 18.1 per cent from January to July 2026, compared with the same period in 2025. Whereas applications for delivery and call centre jobs fell the most by 28.4 per cent and 32.6 per cent, respectively, FastJobs notes.\n\n“What the 2026 data shows is not falling interest but a rotation within it – away from ad-hoc events and delivery shifts, toward steadier warehouse and logistics work,” says Julian Tan, founder and chief executive officer of software company FastCo, the company behind FastJobs.\n\nStill, the overall increase in applications may also reflect graduates taking up flexible or part-time work while waiting to pursue further studies or waiting out a slower hiring market, alongside those pursuing blue-collar jobs for the long-term, he adds.\n\nThe median advertised monthly pay for full-time blue-collar and non-executive roles on FastJobs also increased by about 16 per cent to S$2,901 in 2026, from S$2,500 in 2023.\n\nMore broadly, hiring platform Indeed shared that applications per open roles have more than doubled for some frontline fields in Singapore, while tech and white-collar roles have moderated from its 2024 peak.\n\nIndeed was unable to pull data specific to applications from Singaporeans or graduates.\n\nThe rise in applications for some frontline roles indicates a broader rebalancing in the labour market, with candidates increasingly seeking out resilient, essential frontline opportunities, Callam Pickering, senior economist at Indeed notes.\n\n## What the trade pays\n\nZames Chew started doing handyman work at 16, taking on small tasks such as assembling furniture with his brother.\n\nThis hobby then grew into Repair.sg, a repair services company offering handyman, electrical, plumbing, air-conditioning and pest control services.\n\nNow 27, Chew manages a team of about 27 employees, and says Repair.sg is on track to end the year with about S$3 million in revenue. Yet, Chew takes home S$3,500 a month.\n\n“Right now, (my brother and I) are actually drawing a salary that’s a lot lower than if we were to work a white-collar job, due to our motivation to really scale this as far as we can now that we’re young and have fewer responsibilities,” he says.\n\nStill, Chew – who is a diploma holder – believes that at his age and educational level, his earning potential is higher in a blue-collar career.\n\nGerald Tan, projects director at Avodah People Solutions, tells me that skilled trade jobs may appear more lucrative than white-collar roles as trade workers are typically paid per project.\n\nBut because independent trade workers are limited to the number of jobs they can take within a day, this creates a “salary growth issue”, Tan says.\n\nFor 29-year-old independent plumber Tan Zhong He, the most immediate way to earn more is to simply work more – taking on night jobs or forgoing rest days occasionally.\n\nOn average, he takes three to five gigs daily, and works seven to nine jobs on busier days. Currently, Tan’s monthly take-home pay ranges between S$3,000 and S$4,000.\n\n“In plumbing, if we are not lazy, we won’t die of hunger,” he says.\n\nAnd in another five to 10 years, as more senior plumbers retire, Tan hopes that more opportunities will open up and allow him to expand his business.\n\nGuitar technician, Hazieq “Wax” Nizam, takes another approach, juggling multiple income streams, including running his own instrument repair shop, working as a co-curricular activities teacher at two secondary schools and touring with bands.\n\n“My bare minimum for a source of income is that… (I) must be able to pay for my rent,” the 28-year-old says. Rent for his instrument repair shop, Wax Guitar Services, costs about S$1,200 a month.\n\n## Reskilling and specialisation\n\nWhile it is possible for one to earn more in a skilled trade than in a white-collar job, it is challenging, says Adrian Choo, founder and chief executive officer of Career Agility International.\n\nMany trades in Singapore are dominated by foreign workers who have lower salary demands and more years of experience, Choo says, adding that for local trade workers, salary progression may often require them to shift to more specialised services.\n\nSome of the young blue-collar workers I spoke to are already investing time and money to upgrade and develop new skills.\n\nOver the past few years, 27-year-old Chew has been attending night classes to upskill and earn certifications in electrical, plumbing, pest-control and air-conditioning services.\n\n“The reason I chose all the different courses is because I could directly see how I could apply it to bettering myself, bettering my team or helping my customers,” he says.\n\nHazieq is also investing in further education. After graduating with a diploma in Sonic Arts from Republic Polytechnic in 2019, Hazieq attained a second diploma this year in Business Practice at Ngee Ann Polytechnic to learn how to better run a company.\n\nIn December, he will head to the US to study at the Galloup School of Lutherie to deepen his expertise in guitar repair and building.\n\n“When I come back from the States, I am going to be more educated to teach people how to do their own practice,” he says.\n\nThat said, hands-on jobs aren’t entirely immune to technological disruptions.\n\nFor example, as electric vehicles (EVs) become more common, demand for repair work on internal combustion engine vehicles may eventually wane, and car mechanics would need to reskill, Avodah People Solutions’ Tan notes.\n\nThe blue-collar career ladder may look different from the traditional corporate one, but long-term job security still requires upskilling to ensure one’s skills remain relevant.\n\nDecoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.\n\nCopyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.\n\n[TRENDING NOW](/pulse?ref=trending-now)\n\nComfortDelGro’s Zig to buy S$10 million worth of BYD cars for private-hire fleet\n\nSingapore telco price war squeezes earnings, strengthens case for StarHub-M1 deal, say analysts\n\nSats slides 13.6% as investors dump shares on profit-margin squeeze\n\nWhen every phone becomes a satellite phone, what happens to Asia’s telcos?", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/is-blue-the-new-white-why-some-young-workers-are-choosing-blue-collar-jobs", "canonical_source": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/thrive/career-guide/blue-new-white-why-some-young-workers-are-choosing-blue-collar-jobs", "published_at": "2026-08-20 10:50:09+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-20 11:13:19.715123+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Resume Builder", "FastJobs", "Iskandar Jalil", "Forgecrafts", "ManpowerGroup Singapore", "Linda Teo", "Julian Tan", "FastCo"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/is-blue-the-new-white-why-some-young-workers-are-choosing-blue-collar-jobs", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/is-blue-the-new-white-why-some-young-workers-are-choosing-blue-collar-jobs.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/is-blue-the-new-white-why-some-young-workers-are-choosing-blue-collar-jobs.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/is-blue-the-new-white-why-some-young-workers-are-choosing-blue-collar-jobs.jsonld"}}