Why a managing partner quit his high-flying corporate job to get a trade

Workers worried about the threat of AI taking their jobs are pivoting to roles that can’t be done by a bot.

Former Sydney law firm managing partner Kevin Yau is one of them, giving up a lucrative job as a lawyer to train as a plumber.

The 44-year-old is among a growing trend of people ditching white-collar roles and literally getting their hands dirty.

Mr Yau said he had always preferred working with his hands but pursued law after being encouraged by his parents towards medicine or the legal profession.

He eventually became a managing partner but said long hours behind a desk and dealing with clients during difficult periods of their lives left him burnt out.

His turning point came during the Covid-19 lockdowns when he could not work from his Bankstown practice in Sydney’s southwest and began doing handyman jobs around his home.

“I remember seeing tradie vehicles driving around,” Mr Yau told NewsWire.

“They weren’t impacted by the lockdowns. That’s when I knew I had to make a change.

“I needed something hands-on that would be futureproof against a lockdown or AI.”

Mr Yau contacted Master Plumbers and was connected with The Clean Plumber, where he is now lead plumber.

Mr Yau said the switch was physically difficult at first but he now had no regrets about abandoning law.

He is not alone with career platform WORK180 finding AI had influenced a career decision in almost two in three (58 per cent) young Aussies aged between 16 and 25 in the past 12 months.

Half of those surveyed said they were considering switching fields, while 62 per cent of young jobseekers said they were very or extremely concerned about AI’s impact on employment.

Master Plumbers Association of NSW chief executive Nathaniel Smith said moving from an office job into plumbing might sound unusual but reflected a broader shift being driven by AI and technology.