The Dark Age Of Blue Collar Has Begun

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]AI is expected to eliminate almost 50% of all white-collar jobs over the next few years. That, of course, leaves us with one very important and scary question.

[00:00:14]Where do all those displaced workers go?

[00:00:17]Well, naturally, some will take leadership roles. Of course, artificial intelligence will need supervision, at least currently. But, there are only so many management or supervisory positions available. So, where does everybody else go? Well, if you look at forums online, it's already being discussed, especially with computer engineers, software engineers, and computer science majors.

[00:00:42]A lot of the talk is into blue-collar fields, HVAC techs, plumbers, electricians, construction workers, jobs which have been deemed, at least currently, safe from artificial intelligence. So, then you might say, "Well, it looks like we're going to have a boom in those fields. Wouldn't that be a good thing? Why is your title and your video thumbnail so dark and gloomy?"

[00:01:07]Well, because if you look at it from a supply and demand perspective, economics is going to do what economics does best.

[00:01:16]And that's not going to be good for the field. That's what I want to talk about here today. As always, my name is Derek.

[00:01:22]I got my degree in finance so you don't have to. Let's break all of this down.

[00:01:26]When you get an increase in the supply of things, usually, you get a decrease in the price. That is simple supply and demand. Now, of course, there are some areas that are inelastic, but in pure supply-and-demand driven markets, that's what tends to happen. When you look at a potentially 100 million-plus inflow of workers into blue-collar fields, like plumbing, electricians, construction, any sort of job that has been deemed safe from artificial intelligence. Even if the uptick in the available workforce is only 10%, that has a dramatic decrease in the price that those workers are able to charge.

[00:02:17]Because of course, as a homeowner, if I need my electrical work redone, and I only have two or three certified master electricians in the area, they're going to be able to charge a high rate, hourly rate, 50 or even $100 per hour if the job is complex.

[00:02:36]But if instead, as a homeowner, I have 100 available electricians, well, of course, those are going to have to compete for the bid, which lowers the price. Now, I'm using electricians as an example because it takes a long time to become a master electrician. But when we look 5 years down the road, that could potentially be the job market that we're swimming in because AI is looking like it's going to displace a massive portion of highly educated white-collar work.

[00:03:10]And it doesn't just mean, or I don't just mean consu- a computer science. I mean law.

[00:03:17]Lawyers, a lot of the mundane entry-level work is going to be automated. It's already being automated.

[00:03:23]So, if you get your law degree and you look for employment, when you're starting from scratch, some of these firms, I would say a huge swath of these firms, are going to have less space available for entry-level positions because a lot of the tasks tasks are going to be automated.

[00:03:42]Now, when it comes to remote work, which is a huge desire and draw and a luxury in some of these jobs, that might be the first to go as well.

[00:03:51]Now, of course, this is generalizing.

[00:03:53]There's still a lot of strategy that goes into white-collar work, especially in some of the creative fields like marketing, like sales. Yes, that still needs a human touch because people want to buy from real humans. But, for example, in marketing, a lot of that a lot of that can be automated. A lot of the media buying can be automated. A lot of the script iteration can be automated. So, while you'll still need marketers, you'll need much, much less of them. When it comes to sales, account executives are going to be still a vital part to any business, but SDRs or qualifiers, that might be completely automated. So, without risking dragging this video out too long because really what this is is this is a think tank style video. We are hypothesizing what could potentially happen. What I see over the next few years is I see an uptick of new employees, fresh starting their career, choosing blue-collar work or trades instead of going to college. I also see, unfortunately, a downtick in the salary that some of these positions demand simply because supply and demand is going to do its thing. And when you increase the supply potentially dramatically, you are going to see a downtick in the rate that these professions can command. And I know maybe this is not going to be a well-received video. Maybe I'll get comments saying, "You're wrong. That's not going to happen. These people deserve to be paid a living wage." And I completely agree with that.

[00:05:27]I completely agree with that. But, capitalism, the market, and supply and demand don't care what we think is morally right. If there are not safeguards in place, the market is going to do what the market does best, and that is push down prices. In this case, prices are wages.

[00:05:45]So, artificial intelligence, it could help us cure a lot of diseases. It could help us automate our lives. It could help us pursue hobbies instead of pursuing work if we do it correctly. If we have some form of UBI. If we have some form of public ownership of artificial intelligence. And if we have some form of taxation on artificial intelligence. My fear is, of course, that's not going to happen because the people and entities that lobby our government are not there for our best interest. So, instead, if we allow artificial intelligence to replace our jobs without safeguards like UBI or like taxation in place, what's going to happen is people are going to find other ways to feed themselves and their family. Right now, the major area that seems insulated against artificial intelligence is trades and jobs that require a human hand.

[00:06:45]And, of course, the medical field. But, the medical field takes lots of experience, lots of training, and years of study to get into. So, while that is currently insulated, the total jobs available across medical as well as trades, there's only a certain amount of work available. And because of the supply of the workforce currently, that is where you command the high prices or high pay.

[00:07:11]If you double or triple that workforce, you're going to cut that pay drastically.

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