By Jack Rubinger, freelance construction writer

In a world struggling with climate change, economic change and a global pandemic, what’s going to happen in the future is difficult to predict and hard to imagine. This is a challenging time for adults and our young people.

With Baby Boomers retiring from many trades, what is the future going to hold for the next generation of trade workers? What can we do now to ensure that there will be a future generation of trade workers? How will technology impact the next generation seeking a career?

In the short-term, because of economic slowdowns in commercial real estate development due to the global pandemic, less work might be available for some trade workers, cautioned Kate Lister, Global Workplace Analytics.

Some second and third generation welders and fitters have discouraged their children from the heavy construction trades due to the travel demands, work hours and the impact on family life, even though the money is still very good (anywhere from about $25,000 to $60,000 or more depending on the state).

“That electrical person, plumber, HVAC person will be needed for a LONG TIME COMING in society. Trade jobs do important work that is much needed. These jobs take skill and provide incredible value. More importantly, many trade workers will tell you they get great satisfaction from being able to see the direct results of their efforts—which their office-working friends may wait years to see,” said Safety Manager Terry Penney.

Training is a good place to start to predict the future.

Training

It’s not fair to expect someone going into a new career to know everything about that job. The Oregon Tradeswoman organization, for example, conducts a hands-on career fair introducing debt-free career education for high-paying, high-demand careers in the skilled trades.

Many top colleges offer construction trades programs, including Alfred State, SUNY Canton, Morrisville State College (NY), and Arizona Western College.

Community colleges and high schools offer training, too. Not everyone is meant to or can afford to go the traditional university route. In fact, more and more young people are questioning this path, because it doesn’t ensure a job after four years, universities are expensive, and while you wind up with a degree, you may still have no real work experience.

“Our colleges and tech institutes must be current and even future proofing for new systems and code requirements on how we have to build differently. As a lean organization, teaching students at all levels to be problem solvers and not just mechanical processors will greatly enhance their success going into the future,” said Tom Plumb, Kinetic Construction.

Chanel Pichaco from Alpha Construction in Oregon, is launching a new internship program and getting the word out via social media. This family business is growing and encourages young people to jump on the construction bandwagon. “The cool thing about the construction industry is that it requires no experience or prior knowledge to get into,” she said. “I’ve known people who have gone to labor unions and signed up to learn about framing or siding via job shadowing and internships for on the job experience. It’s definitely a learn-by-doing career path. The critical factor is to find the right mentor and person to shadow.”

Interviewing

There’s an art or a practice in becoming a good interviewer and a good interviewee. Both parties want something out of the deal. The best interviews are conversational and collaborative.

But how do interviewees learn to be good candidates when they might have no prior experience in a particular trade? Does it make sense to hire a resume coach or do you just find a template online and fill it in?

“It can become very discouraging seeing the hundreds of job openings that want 5-10 years’ experience.  Even more discouraging when you actually meet the qualifications and the recruiter has already thrown out your resume,” said Safety Manager Heather Ziegler. “I think the hiring process needs to go two directions; one, understand what qualifications/duties truly need to be met and know the national average salary for that role. And two, develop an accurate personnel development and training process.”

Invest Time To Foster Longevity

In the trade industry, many people switch companies to hopefully make more money and achieve greater schedule flexibility. Companies need to make the investment up front with an equitable wage, offer on-the-job training and foster longevity. 

A study by Employee Benefits News states that the average cost of losing an employee is a staggering 33% of their annual salary. In the spirit of longevity and loyalty, it makes tremendous sense to retain employees whenever possible. Constantly training new employees is costly and time-consuming. Plus, when people leave, their knowledge goes with them.

Technology

Think of the advanced techniques and high technology that have become a part of a tradesperson’s toolbox. Successful tradesmen and tradeswomen require a solid grounding in math, analytical skills, literacy, the ability to solve complex problems, understand and analyze countless situations.

Young people have been raised on technology and can quickly get up to speed with building information modeling (BIM) and other tools, so the skills they possess will be an advantage. BIM for example will change the way we build forever.

In the construction field, automated heavy equipment, drone use for  surveying and inspections, 3D printing of buildings and bridges, are just a few of the technologies that are currently a growing part of everyday life at job sites.

Encouraging young people to go into construction makes a lot of sense for those who enjoy variety. They’ll be constantly learning new skills and using technology every day. There’s no reason to suggest that the university path is the only path. Learning a trade is cool. You get to be outside, you are part of a team, you’re not stuck behind a computer all day and the money is decent.

“Construction is a wide open industry begging for young people who want to excel and grow within an industry,” said Plumb. “We encourage site experience as a stepping stone to other jobs as the demographics of a retiring workforce will open up many opportunities to progress and the better wages along with it. We are actually looking for MINDSET over SKILLSET.”

With so many opportunities and high growth potential, considering a job in a skilled trade is certainly worthwhile. You can put your skills to use while getting better at something that is very useful in society. These trades will always be important, especially as machines and technology continue to change.

Improved training, access to technology and greater transparency in the interviewing and hiring process will be the three keys to open doors for the next generation of trade workers.

About the Author

Jack Rubinger is a freelance writer, with more than 10+ years of workplace safety and construction industry research and writing experience. Looking for an article on a specific construction topic? Contact: jackrubinger814@gmail.com or call 503-964-4877.