Peter Wolfkamp: ZB's Resident Builder on Gen Z hiring professionals to change their lightbulbs

The revelation that almost a quarter of Gen Z adults would rather pay a professional to change their lightbulbs has raised concerns about self-reliance among young people.

According to data out of the UK, some younger people spend up to £1,300 (NZ$2830) a year paying professionals to do household tasks, citing concerns around safety - lightbulbs being too hot, falling off ladders and a reluctance to tamper with electronics.

The report also states that 30 percent of those surveyed could not identify a screwdriver.

ZB's Resident Builder Peter Wolfkamp says it's important to encourage some self-reliance - and there's plenty of tasks that can be carried out independently. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Almost a quarter of gen Z adults would rather pay
a professional to change a light bulb than do it
themselves because I worried that the light bulb is too hot.
Actually data and this is out of the United Kingdom,
so maybe they're the softies. Records the gen z Is
can fork out up to two thousand, eight hundred New
Zealand dollars a year for professionals to do their household
tasks because they just don't do it and resident build it.

(00:23):
And host of our show on Sunday's, Pete wolf Camp
joins you, now, how.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Pete Greasy, thanks tipping you years here.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
This is pretty amazing, is it true? Can gen Z
do nothing?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Well? I saw this the article as well, and I
saw something else the other Only forty of them forty
percent could identify what a screwdriver looks like. So we're
off to a flying start there. Hey, look, part of
me goes, you know what, as a professional, and like
all of my colleagues looking for work, will take your money, right,
So if you want to pay us to do it,

(00:54):
that's awesome. But at the same time, we do want
to encourage a little bit of self reliance. So things
like in this article unblocking a sink. I'm not so
sure about the refreshing tile grout. Heaven go up fixing
ely sure, a little bit of repair to a wall
before painting. I laughed my head off it with the
suggestion that you should loosen a sticking door by rubbing

(01:16):
it down with sandpaper, you'll be there for days. Rewiring
a plug, I think stay away from that, to be fair.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
True, true, I agree. Can I come to your question, Peter,
did you install your Did you install your own internet
because you're dropping out every now and a little bit
every now and then, or did you get a professional
to do it? No?

Speaker 2 (01:33):
No, no, Actually, you know what, I actually kind of
did do it myself.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
That's a lot there.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Oh and there he's got a long story.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
That's riefly again the screwdriver thing, you're quite right. Thirty
percent of those suit they could not even identify as screwdriver,
which means probably they couldn't even identify as screw And
what I thought when I read that is that the
first time I had a screwdriver is when my dad
gave me one. First time I had a screwdrivers and
Dad said, screw this in, boy, and it was great fun. Say,
with a hammer. Yes, when I was at intermediate school

(02:03):
we did manual training. Does that exist anymore? It doesn't,
does it?

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Across the board? So again probably you and I are
a similar vintage. So when I went to school, there
was you know, woodwork classes, middle work classes, that sort
of thing, and everybody did it. It wasn't an elected
subject as such. And you're right, if you go to
people's houses these days, you might not find that there
is the variety of tools that there might have been
in the garage that you know. I grew up and

(02:31):
let's say all our family did. And then I had
another thing today too. I went out and did I
had to mount a bracket onto a block wall. And
I used a rotary hammer, drill and a vacuum and
a socket set and some drill bits and a jack
and a corking done and some timber and a sleepgehammer.
And I thought, okay, if you don't have those things,

(02:52):
how are you going to do those jobs? So less
people with tools, and possibly that's driving it as well.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
All right. Pee Wolf Camp of course is on Sunday
morning doing the Breakfast Show. What a great show it
is as well, And if anybody can go and fix
his Internet because he put it in himself. That would
be really good, and then he won't fall out every
now and then.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
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