The Truth about “Blue Collar Millionaires” from the United States!　Young people who fear AI go to “the field”… behind the scenes that doesn’t happen in Japan.

U.S. Generation Z Aims to Become Millionaires in the Workplace

The phenomenon of “blue-collar billionaires” in the U.S. has been covered in the media and on job sites since around November of last year.

In the U.S., the value and wages of skilled jobs are rising due to the evolution of AI and a severe labor shortage, accelerating the migration of workers from white-collar to blue-collar jobs, and enabling them to earn more than 10 million yen a year in front-line jobs. Such nuanced reports have been prominent, but it seems that the nature of the phenomenon occurring in the U.S. is not that simple.

The Japanese media does not always accurately report the facts.

Professor Yoshihiro Taguchi of Chuo University’s Department of Physics points out. He is a physicist but also a unique researcher specializing in cutting-edge data science such as machine learning and bioinformatics. In recent years, he has expanded his interests to artificial intelligence and cognitive science, and last November he published a report in NOTE on the theme of “Lights and Shadows of the Blue-Collar Billionaires that Generation Z in the U.S. is Aiming for.

In Japan, it is reported as if the wages of blue- and white-collar workers in the U.S. have reversed and the number of people moving into skilled jobs is rapidly increasing, but statistically speaking, the average annual income of white-collar workers with college degrees is still higher in the U.S.

The term “blue-collar billionaire” is also a so-called political coinage to begin with, and young Americans are aiming for millionaires, not billionaires.Inother words, they are not billionaires, but millionaires.

So, why are “blue-collar millionaires” a reality in the United States? In his note, Professor Taguchi reports on the current situation in the U.S. as follows.

The problem of exorbitant tuition and student loan debt at four-year colleges and universities has become serious among Generation Z in the United States. In addition, a growing sense of urgency about the automation of white-collar jobs by AI has led them to view a college education as a “high-risk investment.

In fact, the number of students enrolled in public two-year colleges specializing in vocational training increased by about 20% in ’25 compared to ’20, as Generation Z is moving away from four-year colleges.

The mass retirement of the Baby Boomer generation has created a serious labor shortage in construction, HVAC, plumbing, and other fields. Wages have skyrocketed, and it is not unusual for annual incomes to exceed $100,000 (approximately ¥16 million).

Generation Z in the U.S. now considers the college-educated white-collar route to be high-risk, and the route to skilled, blue-collar jobs to be low-risk.

This generation’s vision of blue-collar millionaires is not simply that of high-wage, skilled workers. Their career plans have a clear roadmap for success, starting with learning a skill, becoming an independent or entrepreneurial success story, and ultimately achieving great wealth.

The steps set by Generation Z are.

• 1 Earn while learning a skill
• 2 Become a full-fledged skilled worker and secure a steady, high income
• 3 Become independent and start their own business

In the U.S., private equity (PE) funds (private equity investment funds) are now aggressively acquiring small businesses. Skilled entrepreneurs who have succeeded in their businesses eventually become literal “Millionaires” by selling their companies to PE funds, which are powerful buyers.

This is the reality of blue-collar millionaires in the United States.

Will there be a similar shift from white-collar to blue-collar workers and a “blue-collar dream” of success in the field of work in Japan?

Is the Dream of a Field Job in Japan an Illusion?

The number of white-collar workers seeking jobs with monthly salaries of 700,000 yen or more is about seven times that of blue-collar workers.

(Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), a provider of big data on jobs in Japan, revealed the above situation in its “Blue-Collar Billionaires in Japan: A Survey Report” released in April.

Mai Akimoto, a member of the company’s marketing team, explains.

The top three growth rates in the “number of job openings by job category” from March ’25 to March of this year are occupied by blue-collar jobs. Due to the recent labor shortage, the demand for blue-collar workers is steadily increasing.

However, the number of jobs with monthly salaries in the 500,000 yen range or higher is approximately 4.8 times that of blue-collar jobs. The gap between the two is even larger at monthly salaries of 700,000 yen and above, a level close to 10 million yen per year “.

Although blue-collar workers have the momentum in the growth rate of the number of job openings, white-collar workers in the “average monthly salary by job category” for the same one-year period occupy the top three positions: IT engineers, consultants, and sales/clerical workers. It appears that there is no “wage inversion” between white- and blue-collar workers in Japan, after all.

(Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), a human resource services company, announced in April this year the results of a survey (conducted on 724 people currently working in blue-collar jobs) that “about one in five blue-collar workers has changed jobs from a white-collar job. The reason for choosing a blue-collar job was “to change jobs.

The most common reason given for choosing a blue-collar job was “good job skills (13.7%),” followed by “good income (21.4%)” for those in their 20s, and “a sense of security that cannot be easily replaced by AI (14.5%).

On the other hand, “Salary was lower than expected (39.9%)” was the top negative response regarding the gap with the image before working.

As the results of the Leverage Corporation survey indicate, it is probably true that some people are changing jobs from white-collar to blue-collar positions. However, we are not sure if we can say that it is even increasing.

In the U.S., with the rise of AI, layoffs of white-collar workers have become the norm, so it seems that many are changing jobs to blue-collar positions. In Japan, there are strong worker protection rules based on lifetime employment, so companies cannot easily lay off employees, and in fact, large-scale layoffs associated with AI replacement have not occurred.

Considering the current situation, it is unlikely that personnel transfers like those in the U.S. will occur. It is also difficult to imagine that blue-collar billionaires will be created in the same way as in the U.S., ” said Akimoto.

Behind the Human Resources Industry’s Push for Onsite Jobs

Mr. Yuya Higuchi, a member of Frog’s marketing team, believes that the background of the term “blue-collar billionaire” attracting attention in Japan is “a sign that the hiring market is shifting its attention to fields where labor shortages are becoming more serious.

Large corporations are beginning to carefully select jobs in the 4-6 million yen per year volume bracket (from the National Tax Agency’s “Survey of Private Sector Salaries” and other sources) by restructuring and soliciting voluntary retirement in anticipation of the rise of AI and an uncertain future outlook. Human resource support service companies, which serve as a bridge between companies and job seekers, are becoming unable to meet the new needs of the market with only traditional white-collar-centered matching.

Today, job information sites, recruitment agents, and other human resource companies are focusing their recruitment support efforts on industries such as construction, logistics, and manufacturing, which continue to face serious labor shortages. The fact that the job growth rate of blue-collar workers has been increasing on job sites may be an indication that human resource companies are strengthening their matching efforts to solve problems on the frontline.

With the increasing mobility of employment, perhaps companies and the human resources industry are hoping to present blue-collar workers as a new option to the white-collar workforce and encourage them to change their careers proactively.

However, it is highly doubtful that the mindset of job seekers will switch so easily to that of companies and the human resource industry.

” Unless job information sites and recruitment agents use the term ‘blue-collar billionaire’ as a springboard to approach inexperienced workers, and at the same time, companies improve the working environment and compensation conditions at their workplaces, the true gap between supply and demand in the blue-collar market will not be filled, ” says Higuchi.

Japanese Companies Affectionate of the AI Generation

The analysis and findings of both Frogs reveal the reality in Japan that “the possibility of a blue-collar dream is extremely low.

Professor Taguchi also clearly denies the possibility of a blue-collar millionaire in Japan.

The situation in Japan is too different from that in the United States. There is no way the same thing will happen in Japan.

In the U.S., the risk of unemployment due to AI is becoming apparent. The Japanese employment system is based on lifetime employment and membership with reassignment, and most people are hired regardless of their expertise.

There are also differences in the structure of industries and sectors classified as blue-collar. For example, in the Japanese construction industry, the multiple subcontractor structure from prime contractor to subcontractor is deeply entrenched, and profits are not passed on to on-site constructors. Under this multiple subcontracting structure, it is impossible for on-site subcontractors to grow their businesses to a level where they can be acquired by funds at a high price.

Furthermore, university tuition in Japan is lower than in the United States. Generation Z in Japan will not regard university education as an “expensive initial investment” and the route from college graduate to white-collar jobs as “high-risk.

In the U.S. and other developed countries, the unemployment rate for unskilled young people tends to be high to begin with. In Japan, new graduates are hired even if they have no skills. If companies do not hire young people, they will not be able to rotate people through reassignments, and they will not be able to secure future executives; it is not as if the introduction of AI will allow them to avoid hiring young people because there are no jobs for them to experience.

The “lump-sum hiring of new graduates” and “membership-based employment” may be one of the factors preventing Japanese companies from adopting AI.

The generation who will enter the workforce in the near future will be expected to use AI. Looking at the students, I feel that it will be impossible for them to enter a company and work in the same way as the older generation. If the workplace remains the same as it was in the past, they may sooner or later become intolerant and leave the company.

If that happens, companies will have no choice but to hurry up and change by introducing AI.”

Conditions for Surviving the Turbulent AI Era

Japanese-style employment practices are still alive and well, and Japanese companies are, so to speak, lagging behind their American counterparts. For now, white-collar jobs are still guaranteed, and there is no need to take the risk of shifting to blue-collar jobs.

However, as the use of AI advances within companies, the situation for white-collar workers is sure to change as well. The question then will be: “What can I do with AI that I can generate myself?

The question is whether I myself can become a person who can master the use of generated AI.

First of all, we must accumulate experience in using AI and improve our fact-checking ability to detect errors in AI-generated content. In addition to “defensive skills,” AI must also have “offensive creativity,” which is the ability to use AI to create added value that only humans can provide.

When both of these skills are in place, we can become human beings who can use AI to its fullest potential.

There is also the problem of robots,” continued Taguchi.

Currently, robots cannot replace people yet, but as they advance, blue-collar jobs may be reduced to some extent.

Does this mean that blue-collar jobs will not be safe in the future?

I don’ t think experts can predict how advanced robots will become and what kind of work they will become good at.

Even if robots make progress and are introduced into the workplace, there will still be jobs that need to be done by people. Only human beings can give instructions to and control robots. However, just as with AI, the skills to handle robots will become necessary.

Whether white-collar or blue-collar, the future is the same for workers who merely perform routine tasks.

In the end, the question for both white- and blue-collar workers is the same: Instead of fearing that AI and robots will take our jobs, can we use them to benefit our own work? If we can continue to think about what we can do with them, we will not be eliminated and will be happy no matter what era comes.

Both the myth of the college-educated white-collar “winner” and the blue-collar dream will be equally rewritten with the development of technology. In these unpredictable times, we have to survive without stopping to think anyway. ……?

▼ Yoshihiro Taguchi is a professor at the School of Fundamental Science and Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Chuo University. Physicist. He was selected as one of the “Top 2% Most Influential Researchers in the World” by Stanford University in the U.S. for five consecutive years from ’21 to ’25 for his bioinformatics research. His publications include “Physics Does Not Exist” (Asahi Shinsho), “What is Intelligence?