Soaring Value of On-Site Jobs Amid AI Expansion
High Income and Job Security Draw Attention
"Potential for AI Replacement" Determines the Winners
As artificial intelligence (AI) spreads and white-collar (office) jobs are rapidly being restructured, the so-called "blue-collar (field worker) billionaire" phenomenon is emerging, particularly in the United States, where wages for manual laborers are soaring. As AI begins to replace tasks such as document creation, analysis, accounting, and administrative work, the value of occupations that require hands-on skills and on-site judgment is being newly recognized. There is an analysis that blue-collar jobs-such as plumbers, electricians, and construction technicians, which were once shunned-are now rising to high-income brackets, and the fortunes of various professions are diverging based on their "potential for AI replacement."
Areas AI Cannot Replace: The Resurgence of On-Site Technical Jobs
Recently, Japan's Asahi TV focused on the structural changes occurring in blue-collar occupations in the United States. Asahi TV analyzed that, unlike office jobs that can be replaced by AI, technical positions requiring skilled hands and immediate on-site judgment are inherently slower to automate. As a result, these jobs are being reclassified as high-income roles.
Asahi TV highlighted as a representative example a person named Mai, who switched from working as a corporate accountant in the United States to becoming a plumber. Although she graduated from the prestigious University of California, Berkeley and was responsible for accounting at a company, she decided to quit due to conflicts with her boss and, at a friend's suggestion, began working as a plumber-a field in which she had no prior experience. Having never handled a screw before, she endured severe physical pain for several months at the start, but now reports a high level of job satisfaction.
Hourly Wage Tripled: "The Era of Manual Labor Is Returning"
While working as an accountant, her hourly wage was about 4,000 yen (approximately 37,000 won), but after becoming a plumber, her hourly wage jumped to 12,000 yen (about 110,000 won), nearly tripling. She said that although the physical burden is significant, her working hours have decreased, and she feels a greater sense of satisfaction from making things with her own hands. Mai emphasized, "AI can do the thinking for you, but it cannot replace the role of working directly on-site," adding, "The era of manual labor is returning."
Yu Kashimura, Senior Researcher at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, predicted, "There is a high possibility that a similar situation will emerge in Japan within a few years," and added, "Wages for white-collar workers may stagnate or face downward pressure." He stated, "The intelligence of AI has already surpassed that of the average human," and "jobs that involve handling data and documents in front of a computer will be most affected." However, he noted that since Japan has strict regulations on dismissing regular employees, changes are more likely to take the form of personnel transfers and job reassignments rather than large-scale layoffs as seen in the United States.
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