In recent years, those of us in the construction industry have found ourselves in the same discussion again and again. Lack of available manpower in the trades has become a real issue, causing delays and increased labor costs, which leads to frustration for the industry and our customers. Where are the young people who flocked to this industry in years past?

Young workers are passively steered away from the trades and in other directions. More and more young students are encouraged to enter the computer field, heralded as the place for excitement, challenges, tons of jobs, and loads of money. The dot.com boom and subsequent bust left many of those specialists without work. Yet, still more young students are directed toward a four-year college degree program when they are perhaps not temperamentally suited for higher-level academics.

I’m not suggesting that every young person shouldn’t have the opportunity to be the best that he or she can be and invest in the best education he or she can afford. I am suggesting that there are likely many frustrated folks out there, struggling to find a decent wage and elusive job satisfaction in a white-collar job when a trade can be more appealing and offer greater opportunity in the long run.

I believe we need to put some more energy behind the programs that exist to help kids make ideal career choices. Drafting, wood shop, and metal shop are things of the past in many schools today. Once well-attended trade schools and vocational technical-training programs are suffering for lack of attendance and funding.

Like the various armed services, perhaps it is time for our industry to create slick ad campaigns depicting the interesting and challenging opportunities available to carpenters and other tradesmen. It’s time to hire hot celebrity spokespeople to represent the industry and draw young people to it. Most of all, we need to identify ways to give young students the opportunity to explore these avenues and consider them as possible career paths. We may offer appealing choices.

Luckily, institutions like the Associated Builders and Contractors are already working on these problems. They need our help, though, with ideas and money for programs in order to identify the most successful methods of achieving this goal.

Sincerely,
Gary R. Drumheller, President