Workers worried about the threat of AI taking their jobs are pivoting to roles that can\u2019t be done by a bot.<\/p>\n
Former Sydney law firm managing partner Kevin Yau is one of them, giving up a lucrative job as a lawyer to train as a plumber.<\/p>\n
The 44-year-old is among a growing trend of people ditching white-collar roles and literally getting their hands dirty.<\/p>\n
Mr Yau said he had always preferred working with his hands but pursued law after being encouraged by his parents towards medicine or the legal profession.<\/p>\n
He eventually became a managing partner but said long hours behind a desk and dealing with clients during difficult periods of their lives left him burnt out.<\/p>\n
His turning point came during the Covid-19 lockdowns when he could not work from his Bankstown practice in Sydney\u2019s southwest and began doing handyman jobs around his home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember seeing tradie vehicles driving around,\u201d Mr Yau told NewsWire.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey weren\u2019t impacted by the lockdowns. That\u2019s when I knew I had to make a change.<\/p>\n
\u201cI needed something hands-on that would be futureproof against a lockdown or AI.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Yau contacted Master Plumbers and was connected with The Clean Plumber, where he is now lead plumber.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t send a robot to go unblock a drain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Yau said the switch was physically difficult at first but he now had no regrets about abandoning law.<\/p>\n
He is not alone with career platform WORK180 finding AI had influenced a career decision in almost two in three (58 per cent) young Aussies aged between 16 and 25 in the past 12 months. <\/p>\n
Half of those surveyed said they were considering switching fields, while 62 per cent of young jobseekers said they were very or extremely concerned about AI\u2019s impact on employment.<\/p>\n
Master Plumbers Association of NSW chief executive Nathaniel Smith said moving from an office job into plumbing might sound unusual but reflected a broader shift being driven by AI and technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing people who have spent years behind a desk deciding they want a practical, skilled career,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, demand for skilled trades remains strong.<\/p>\n
Jobs and Skills Australia said plumbers and related trades were in shortage in NSW and nationally, with employment up by 4500 workers in the year to February, a 4.3 per cent rise that outpaced overall employment growth.<\/p>\n
SEEK data shows national demand for plumbers has risen 3 per cent since July 2025 and 2 per cent over the latest quarter, while job advertisements across all industries fell 6 per cent annually.<\/p>\n
TAFE NSW acting executive director of learning and teaching Jen Perkins said plumbing and other construction trades continued to attract school leavers and career changers.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur classrooms bring together students from all walks of life, including mature-age apprentices and people who have previously worked in office-based or professional roles,\u201d Ms Perkins said.<\/p>\n
National vocational education figures also show the age profile of apprentices is changing, with 39,895 Australians aged 25 and older starting apprenticeships in 2025 compared with 5339 in 1995.<\/p>\n
The same calculation is confronting students before they have even entered the workforce.<\/p>\n
Campbelltown student Chad Locke, 18, is considering carpentry after year 12 but has also applied to study business and secondary teaching at university.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like that\u2019s what I\u2019m most connected to in terms of working with my hands,\u201d Mr Locke said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoing a trade could give me a good opportunity to do that because I\u2019d actually have the skills to eventually do my own thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he said university still carried a strong social expectation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour whole schooling builds up to university, so it\u2019s like there\u2019s this pressure of \u2018If I go this other way, will I fail?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
AI had made the choice even harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is definitely going to be an influence, and it could make everything better or it could offer fewer opportunities for people,\u201d Mr Locke said.<\/p>\n
For Mr Yau, the appeal of a trade is much simpler.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can stick your hand up and say, \u2018I know how to fix things\u2019, you\u2019re always going to have a job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Workers worried about the threat of AI taking their jobs are pivoting to roles that can\u2019t be 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