27-year-old Lexis Czumak-Abreeu belongs to Generation Z and represents a trend: She initially wanted to become a surgeon but switched to a trade during the Covid pandemic. Today, she is an electrician and a star on social media.
What trend is this among Generation Z? Members of Generation Z are currently between twelve and 27 years old. As some media report, there is a trend among the older part of Generation Z, moving away from university and rather pursuing trades.
27-year-old Lexis Czumak-Abreu originally planned to become a surgeon, but now works full-time as an electrician in the US state of New York.
She showcases her work on Instagram and is successful with it.
In medicine, she dealt with too many people, which she didn’t like
This is what she says about her career change: She originally wanted to study medicine because her mother works as a medical assistant.
However, while working in the hospital, where she had to take blood from people, the 27-year-old realized how much she hated the profession. Dealing with people was not her strength at all. While she could talk to people, it wasn’t her thing, and she preferred to work alone, she tells Business Insider.
She then left medicine and worked as a personal trainer. She had started this job while studying, but again she had to deal with people. On the side, she did some electrical work.
On TikTok, “LextheElectrician” has over 1 million followers:
During the pandemic, electricians were essential
This is how she became an electrician: During the Covid pandemic, she could no longer work in her interim job as a personal trainer, but electricians were deemed essential. And she had already started doing electrical work on the side.
Today, she works a 40-hour week as an electrician and loves the variety in her daily routine; every day she is in a different location. Additionally, she feels like she has really accomplished something once her workday is done. It feels like she can finish one job and start another—not just doing one endless job that never seems to end.
This job also has its downsides, as she explains: She has already received minor electric shocks, but has since become much more cautious. The job is also physically demanding. Time and again she has to lift heavy copper wires or larger pipes.
Therefore, she trains in the gym to keep up with men. Sometimes she has to handle things that are twice as heavy as herself. But even that is still better than an office job.
As the Spanish site 3DJuegos reports, Lexis Czumak-Abreu, also known as “LextheElectrician”, is also successful on Instagram, where she showcases her work in posts. Since 2022, she has been combining her job as an electrician with work as an influencer.
She apparently resonates very well with other members of Generation Z – perhaps with exactly those people who are stuck in those endless office jobs and yearn to also complete a task. With her work, she earns about $200,000 (€182,000) a year, but she doesn’t want to give up her job: Generation Z has just made a tough decision: They are starting to work
