A generation anxious about AI is being sold a new career path, one viral video at a time
There is a video doing the rounds of a woman in a bright pink welding helmet, matching gloves, and a doom metal soundtrack, fixing a car engine for an audience of more than 160,000 followers. The caption on the clip, posted by US creator Lindsey Hover under the handle @thebluecollarbarbie, reads: "I actually do think this is easier than sending an email." It's an American video, but the joke – and the point behind it – travels just as well north of the border.
Hover is part of a growing wave of "blue-collar influencers" using social media to rebrand welding, plumbing, carpentry and trucking as aspirational careers rather than fallback options, according to Bloomberg. The pitch is straightforward: these trades are largely automation-proof, and in Canada, the wages are starting to make the case on their own.
That pitch has heavyweight backing. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has repeatedly told young people the trades are entering a boom, telling a Carnegie Mellon University graduating class earlier this year that "electricians, plumbers, iron workers, technicians, builders – this is your time," and going on to frame the AI buildout as ushering in a new era for industry, according to Fortune. In Canada, federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu has made a similar pitch directly to young people, arguing the stigma around trades work is misguided given how well those careers can pay, according to BNN Bloomberg.
The wage data backs it up, at least in part. Electricians in Canada typically earn between $20 and $48 an hour, while plumbers earn between $21 and $46 an hour, according to Job Bank figures updated in November 2025 – a wide enough range that a licensed, experienced tradesperson in a high-demand region can comfortably clear six figures a year. Behind those numbers sits a real shortage: BuildForce Canada's latest national forecast expects the industry to lose 270,000 experienced tradespeople to retirement over the next decade, with total demand requiring more than 380,000 new construction workers by 2034 just to keep pace, according to On-Site Magazine's reporting on the outlook. Ontario alone is projected to need roughly 154,100 new construction workers by 2034.
For employers, that shortage is the real story, and attitudes appear to be shifting in response. A 2025 Survey on Employment and Skills, run by the Environics Institute alongside Toronto Metropolitan University's Diversity Institute and the Future Skills Centre, found Canadians are now more than twice as likely to recommend a young person pursue a trade or apprenticeship (56%) than a general university program (26%). A large majority – 77% – agreed that a young person who learns a skilled trade is certain to find a good job that pays well. France Daviault, CEO of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum, told BNN Bloomberg the old stigma around trades work is "slowly shifting," as labour shortages become impossible to ignore and more people see the earning potential firsthand.
That is the gap online creators say they're helping to close, even if most of the biggest accounts are still American. Calvin Rust, a carpenter who documents his working life online, told Bloomberg his videos help young people get a clearer picture of the career paths actually open to them. Clarissa Rankin, a trucker with 207,000 Instagram followers, has gone further and launched her own training academy. Canadian creators are following a similar playbook: Hamilton, Ontario electrical apprentice Bobbi Jo Tymosko, who posts as Lady Voltz, documents daily life on the job and encourages other women into the field – though her reach is still modest next to her American counterparts.
For HR and talent teams, the lesson isn't simply "get on TikTok." The barriers to entry into skilled trades are real and growing, not shrinking, even as pay improves. Caroline Pfeiffer Marinho of Right Management, a ManpowerGroup division, told Bloomberg that trades have grown more specialised as technology advances – electricians now need to understand LED systems and motion sensors on top of traditional wiring – which raises the skill floor even as it raises the pay ceiling. Advanced manufacturing and renewable energy roles in particular can take years to reach a paid position.
None of this guarantees a fix. As Aaron Witt, founder of construction-recruitment platform BuildWitt, told Bloomberg, blue-collar work simply doesn't suit everyone — the hours are long, the conditions punishing, and the schedule can run round the clock, in all weather. His advice to employers trying to capitalise on the current wave of interest is blunt: be upfront about the demands of the job rather than only selling the paycheque. Influencers can shift perceptions and widen the applicant pool. Whether that translates into people actually staying in the trade – and whether Canadian wages keep climbing to match the shortage – is still an open question for the industry to answer.
