Shrinking labor workforce means good things for those entering construction jobs
Posted by Mark Avera on 23 Jul 2007 at 08:50 am | Tagged as: Career Advice, Construction Jobs, Industry News
The construction industry in America is standing in the shadow of a historically unprecedented hurdle. The workforce is aging, and candidates are not being drawn into the industry quickly enough to compensate for the inevitable mass exodus of the baby boomers. In 2004, Bobby Rayburn, then president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), identified “a shortage of skilled workers” as being “one of the most serious challenges” facing the homebuilding industry (source: Sacramento Business Journal). The housing downturn that has occurred since Mr. Rayburn spoke those words has not changed the situation; a lack of skilled workers is still a real and quickly approaching obstacle to be overcome by the industry. And that is just the residential sector. Commercial construction has been booming while residential construction has been swooning, and some firms are already feeling the pinch of an undersupply of skilled workers in certain disciplines.
Statistics tell the story well. A recent Human Resources Blog entry offers some interesting numbers from Ira S. Wolfe’s Perfect Labor Storm 2.0. For example, “there are now more people over 90 or 100 years old than in all of American history put together.” Even more startling for this paper’s purpose is this: “the 50 and older population in the U.S. from 2000 – 2050 will grow at a rate 68 times faster than the rate of growth for the total population.” Or try this one on for size: “Almost 90% of the net increase in the traditional working age population is projected to occur in the age 55 – 64 group,” and “over the next 15 years, 80% of workforce growth in developed economies of North America…will occur among people 50 years and older.”
But what does this all mean for the construction industry and building jobs? Find out by reading the rest of the article here!
We are doing something about the shortage of skilled workers here in Georgia. Please check out our website at cefga.org for more information.
Thanks Donna!
I did check out your website. Looks like y’all are really doing a great job. Congratulations on the 2007 CEFGA CareerExpo & Skills USA Championships…they look like they were a hit! (Drawing 92 schools this year…up from 50 the first year)
I encourage our Georgia readers to check out their site (again, it is http://www.cefga.org), and see if you can’t contribute in a meaningful way.
Remember, “there are not enough skilled workers to meet current OR projected demand”… what are we going to do about it?
The construction industry historically has trained on the job.This is not a reliable pathforward as materials,tools and processes are advancing with technological upgrades.
Nationally, apprenticeship programs are dysfunctional, four to five years, one night per week, after working eight to ten hours,nine to ten months per year. Result, less than 15 per cent of first year apprentices finish the fourth year of their programs. The construction, industrial maintenance and pipeline industries are at a critical point in their history, as in any other potentially catastophic chapter in our nations history, problem resolution has come from industry leaders. The skilled labor pool and it’s ability to complete projects on time and on budget effects every citizen and every CEO of every business. Billions of dollars are spent each year on project litigation, delays, inspections not passed the first time, wasted materials, tool and equipment misuse, safety issues including lost time and loss of life incidents.
Our country is defined by our ability to build and the leaders of industry should lead with mandated training and education requirements to their contractors, engineers and architechs. Academia must wake up and realize their failures for not informing todays youth of the potential rewarding career paths available in one of the most dynamic industries in the world. Faith based community leaders should be ashamed for not lobbying for legislation to break down old doors that locked their people out of the industry. Elected government officials perpetuating the old way and not willing to give up the dollars from organized labor should be identified and voted out of office. Representing and furthering the goals of organized labor will not address this problem it will perpetuate it. Opening the doors of opportunity and fast track training and education programs are the answer to our nations shortage of skilled labor. No action today will be magnafied tomorrow. Scenario: in the next ten years major infra structure projects are needed, the ecconomic impact of retiring baby boomers demanding more health care facilities, an aging industrial base needing upgrades and reinvestment. Every major industry will be adversley effected by our non actions today. Where are the leaders of industry and who will address this looming and present problem?
[...] Following on a theme I developed in an earlier blog post, Shrinking labor workforce means good things for those entering construction jobs, I have decided this week to publish a two part article on how and why the youth of America should consider construction careers, whether straight from high school or after earning a four-year degree. [...]