Zen Stewart, 34, on why she opted for a radical career switch: “I knew in my core that something else was out there for me”
In an interview in the U.S. media, a North Carolina woman says she recently took a completely new career path - and has “really enjoyed it”.
A one-time telehealth worker says she’s relishing a recent change of direction in her career, after her search for an artificial intelligence-proof pathway led her to train as an electrician.
“There was something else out there”
North Carolina woman Zen Stewart told an interview with CNBC that she was let go from her job in the healthcare industry - as an administrator organizing worker scheduling - when her role was replaced by new software.
Stewart had previously undertaken studies in design and business, but revealed to CNBC: “I knew in my core that something else was out there for me.”
The 34-year-old, who lives in Raleigh, said the idea of working as an electrician “didn’t even hit my mind” until she began to look for professions that “aren’t going to be replaced by AI anytime soon”.
Stewart is now employed as a construction wireman - an electrical worker who installs, maintains and repairs wiring systems in residential, commercial and industrial settings, per employment experts Zip Recruiter.
She explains that she was attracted to becoming an electrician as “there were many ways to move up and many pathways that paid very well”.
“Huge culture shock”
However, it’s a job that involves very early starts, she notes, explaining that she has to wake up at around 5:00 a.m. - or even earlier - to begin her workday.
“It was a huge culture shock because I wasn’t used to being up at the crack of dawn,” she told CNBC. “[But] after I got into the rhythm of things, I really enjoyed it.”
AI to replace “literally half of all white-collar workers”
Amid the rise of AI technology, major figures in the business world have offered apocalyptic predictions for the future of the white-collar workforce - and have forecast a growing need for individuals skilled in blue-collar trades.
Speaking last summer, for example, Ford CEO Jim Farley warned: “Artificial intelligence is going to replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the U.S.”
At the same time, Farley cautioned, America faces a shortage of expertise in the “essential economy” - professionals skilled in trades that cater to “everything that gets built or moved or fixed”.
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