The Next Generation

Skilled workers are in demand. Government agencies are asking for ideas on how to get more people into the labor market who have been on layoff or unemployment. Job postings in some parts of the country are going unheeded as they require specific skillsets. Construction, especially, is hanging out the “Help Wanted” signs that have long been in storage.
 
The Biden Administration talks about free community college and businesses talk about community colleges not providing the right combination of skill training and career counseling needed to place quality workers in construction. And with the infrastructure bills popping up from both sides of Congress, companies are getting desperate.
 
Representing the construction industry, CEO of the AGC (Associated General Contractors of America), Stephen E. Sandherr, issued a statement in reaction to the announcement made by the U.S. DOT (US Dept.  of Transportation) that it will launch a new pilot project to allow states to impose local hire requirements on highway construction programs.
 
“We share the administration’s desire to see more people – particularly from disadvantaged areas – enter the middle class via high paid construction careers,” said Sandherr. “That is precisely why we have launched a nationwide digital advertising campaign to recruit more people – especially more diverse individuals – into the profession. That is also why we created our Culture of Care program designed to make sure construction firms and project sites are more welcoming and inclusive, particularly to workers of diverse backgrounds.
 
“The problem with local hire programs,” he continued, “is that they solve the symptom and not the problem. Our members are desperate to hire workers and would love to hire local employees where they do business. But too many communities have defunded their career and technical education programs and, as a result, there are often too few local workers with any interest in construction careers or basic skills that would make them qualified to be hired.”
 
Indeed, local hire programs often point up the local failure of community colleges to address the needs of local companies, instead following a path that is focused on national trends. Too many communities are failing to provide sufficient career and technical education options to meet employer needs. Some local hire programs, where 80% of the people are hired from local communities, find that those same workers choose to leave the job before the project is even finished.
 
Sandherr closed by saying, “If this administration shares our goal of elevating more people into the middle class via construction careers, than the best path would be to significantly boost investments in career and technical education programs so we can expose more students to the fact that construction is a viable career choice, and one that pays very well. These investments would also provide community members with the basic skills needed to make them viable candidates, and to protect them and their coworkers on the job.”
 
Changing the direction of a government agency has often been compared to trying to turn a battleship 180-degrees while at speed. It can be done but it takes a lot of effort and a lot of time goes by before you get to where you want to be. Projects will likely be well underway before technical or community colleges can produce the needed skilled workers for local hire programs.
 
But the Federal government isn’t ignoring the demand, as the U.S. Dept. of Labor has announced the award of $89 million in grants in 31 states and Puerto Rico to help youths, ages 16-24, who are not enrolled in school nor participating in the labor market, to obtain employment in construction and other in-demand industries.
 
Administered by the department’s Employment and Training Admin., grants from the YouthBuild program support a pre-apprenticeship model to help people learn valuable occupational skills. Enrollees will split their time between workplace training and the classroom, where they earn their high school diploma or equivalency degree and prepare for postsecondary opportunities.
 
“YouthBuild meets young people where they live, and wherever they are on their path to educational attainment and career success,” said Principal Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Suzi LeVine. “Even as these grants are awarded, the Employment and Training Administration is working on the next YouthBuild funding opportunity, always with an eye to equity and inclusion in terms of the communities involved, and the individual participants served.”
 
In total, ETA has awarded 68 YouthBuild grants – ranging from $700,000 to $1.5 million each – to organizations that deliver training and employment in several in-demand industries, including construction, where young people can put their classroom learning to use in building or rehabilitating affordable housing for low-income or homeless families in their neighborhoods.
 
Another Department of Labor project, the Workforce Pathways for Youth program, expands job training and workforce activities for youth, including soft-skill development, career exploration, job readiness and certification, summer jobs, year-round job opportunities, and apprenticeships in Out-of-School Time organizations nationwide. Out-of-School Time organizations operate supervised programs for youth when school is not in session.
 
The program allows authorized organizations to partner with local workforce boards and youth-serving organizations, bridging the gap between their existing activities and the need to expose young adults to career-related services to better prepare them to enter the workforce. Nearly $20 million in grants were awarded to four national organizations to expand local work readiness programs and support workforce development activities.
 
As these grants are distributed across states, with both educational and skill factors involved, local schools will better meet the growing call for skills needed in construction, showing the industry and the government can work toward the same goal: better workers for a better workforce.