Advice for Owners and Contractors on the Skilled Worker Shortage
Data Centers, Oil and Gas, Nuclear, Solar, Grid, Communications, Infrastructure, Ports, Airports, Power Generation – everywhere around us, the construction skilled trade shortage is challenging and getting worse. With projected retirements of the last Baby Boomers and Gen X pending we are soon over 1 million short and counting. This projected shortage of skilled tradespeople has finally captured the attention of the owners of the projects and the talent bottleneck has become a national priority.
Recently Google, BlackRock, META, Ford, Carhartt and other companies (America’s Skilled Trades Alliance) have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to support skilled trade training across America. Mike Rowe, formerly of Dirty Jobs, is out front for them as well. This represents not only serious resources being directed at an acute problem, but potentially the initiation of the third owner generated change for the construction industry.
The first two owner initiatives changed the industry profoundly. Who remembers when safety wasn’t a big deal? Owners decided it was and the industry culture changed 180 degrees to what we have today. Who remembers when drinking and drugs were tolerated as an acceptable compromise for construction workers and jobsites? Owners decided it was unacceptable and the culture changed again. But now we have something more interesting going on. And owners are not just “mandating” contractor and worker behavior; they are putting up big dollars to support change. And a lot of it is going to be wasted unless we change our approach to talent procurement and development. Desperation for talent is leading to compromises in selection, low retention rates and a misplaced set of strategic priorities. The days of “If you can fog a mirror, you can get a job in construction” are over.
Money alone will not solve this problem. A few hundred million is (a positive) drop in the bucket when facing the current shortages of over 1+ million projected openings. Union apprentice programs already invest over a billion dollars a year collectively in the US right now but it takes thousands of hours to create a true craft person. New owner driven programs to “train and place on the jobsite” as reported, only provide weeks rather than years of training – and what operational difference can a large number of raw recruits make during the biggest ramp-up in the history of our business?
I have three strategic suggestions for owners, contractors, and training programs to answer that question:
1 – Create better outcomes by not focusing on skills and training as the initial priority. Yes I know that training is supposed to be the whole point. But the skills are a secondary consideration. The primary focus needs to be on the talent selection not the training programs or curriculum. It is not a question of “WHAT” training is needed. It is a laser focus and discipline on “WHO” gets the opportunity. And that is where most everyone is failing. The front end of the intake is the most important and least utilized strategic initiative in our industry – especially when selecting for Gen Z candidates. And poor retention rates for entry level personnel in our industry show a need for a new approach. Contractors, apprentice programs, owner driven programs need to make sure the candidates most likely to succeed are the ones that get a fair but realistic opportunity to make a career in the skilled trades.
2 – Implement professional screening, testing and evaluation for candidates entering any of the skilled trades training programming. Do you know how hard it is to get a job at Google, BlackRock, META or similar? In our industry, we take the warm body. Drivers license. I-9. Minimum thresholds = marginal talent. Desperate times create a revolving door. Testing and evaluation for entry into our industry are rudimentary or non-existent and retention rates show that we are bringing in quite a few people ill suited to our industry; lacking the work ethic; uninformed as to the challenges or unable to contribute in a meaningful way. Some will say that the problem is a hostile or unwelcoming culture. But look what happened when the California University system dropped the ACT & SAT as the upfront screens. Failing students are now reported at every level and now thousands of professors are petitioning for bringing the testing back.
Every day on social media I see influencers selling the financial rewards of the trades – sometimes with very simplistic messaging pointed at our candidates. What no one tells you until you get to the jobsite is that this is an industry that requires discipline, grit, initiative, flexibility, resilience – and its going to be cold/hot/long hours/tough commutes and will be challenging as hell. Excuses don’t fly. So if you just came for the paycheck or your Mom wants you off the couch or you need your “me-time” day off or you are triggered easily, lack common sense or you cannot be on time – don’t let the door hit you in the ass. Professional screening and testing for the opportunity is long overdue. Yes it takes time and money – but industry success and wasted training dollars demand a higher standard.
3 – Implement Mentoring Programs to give that talent the support and guidance to succeed. 95%+ of the training for every person coming into our industry is going to be OTJ. Their peers on the jobsite are going to make or break every new person we ever get. All the retiring talent we currently have needs to engage in knowledge transfer to a new generation. Millennials and Gen Z thrive on mentoring. It is a perfect match of needs and priorities. Mentoring exponentially increases retention. It supports training, coaching and skill refinement. It is currently an informal model that has so much more potential at every level of our industry. And it is the “success bookend” to the right talent selected on the front end of the process. Most importantly it accelerates the effectiveness of the individual to contribute to the owners, contractors and overall effort. Every training program and company should be considering a means to introduce a formal mentoring program (see attachment for Company Mentoring Template).
For me this is a moment of real pride where the construction industry is getting the attention and respect it deserves. But it is not for everyone and more bodies and training dollars are not the only answers. Construction and the people in it are an engine of opportunity and the underlying foundation for many industries. The shortages we are facing collectively will push us to change and innovate again and again but the willingness of all of us to do so will be the thing that makes the biggest difference. And that is the leadership and strategic challenge before us.