Lexis Czumak-Abreu graduated from college with a pre-med degree but decided it wasn't the right fit for her. Instead of pursuing another job in healthcare or a science-related field, Czumak-Abreu became a full-time electrician, as she told Business Insider last month.
Since 2022, Czumak-Abreu has amassed 2.2 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Her followers watch her perform the day-to-day tasks of her electrician job, such as lugging heavy gear and fixing masses of wires.
The big money for Czumak-Abreu doesn't come from her employer. She makes $200,000 a year from her social media pages, including brand deals with companies, as she told the Wall Street Journal. This is significantly more than the average electrician in New York state, who makes around $70,000 per year, and the average social media influencer, who makes about $58,000 according to ZipRecruiter data.
Despite the lucrative income from her social media presence, Czumak-Abreu has decided not to reduce her hours working as an employee for an electrical servicing company. She wants her company to know that she is a reliable employee. Additionally, working fewer hours would give her less material to post about, as a significant portion of her social media content follows her life as an electrician.
Czumak-Abreu films and edits all her own videos, and she spends her lunch breaks and nights editing footage. She has stated that there are "definitely weeks when I crash and get completely overloaded."
@lexi_abreu Replacing the second 250a blown up breaker due to loose connections. Not sure if this was from initial install or lack of preventive maintenance at this place but while the switch gear was off I made sure all the connections were tight. Also paying an electrician to check tightness of lugs is a lot cheaper than paying for a huge breaker to be replaced… js lol #electrician #femaleelectrician #lextheelectrician
♬ original sound - LextheElectrician
"Unlike in an office job where you go to the same building daily, I work somewhere different every day. I experience different things and see different people every day," Czumak-Abreu previously told BI.
The interest in trade work comes as more Generation Z Americans weigh the pros and cons of a four-year college degree.
The cost of attending university is outpacing the rate of inflation, leaving young people to take student loans that weigh on them far after graduation. And degrees, even in top fields, are no longer a silver bullet to lucrative starter jobs. Only one in four Americans think it's very important to have a college degree for a high-paying job, per a Pew Research survey of 5,000 US adults released last month.
The time and monetary costs of a conventional degree are compelling young people to ditch diplomas for tool belts. The National Student Clearinghouse reported that enrollment in vocational-focused community colleges rose about 16% last year — its highest level since the educational nonprofit began tracking the data in 2018.
Elaina Farnsworth, cofounder of SkillFusion, a credentialing program for electric vehicle technicians, told BI last month that she noticed a significant increase in Gen Z workers applying for her program.