It is a daunting task for a newly graduated student of a technical college program to immediately enter the workforce as a viable answer to our industry's current manpower shortages. The expectation in the nonresidential construction market is that a tremendous amount of spending in the petrochemical sector is inevitable, and this translates into one major need: skilled craft labor. Research analysis of natural attrition shows that in the past decade, over 60 percent of the current workforce has become 55 years of age or older, and by the year 2030, that percentage will be over 80 percent.
Given the amount of manpower needed to complete the billions of dollars of industrial construction work over the next several years, it is incumbent for hiring managers at construction companies to realize that technical college students have only been taught the basics to begin their careers as craftsmen. They should not be expected to be "A" players -- at least not right off the bat. These graduates are a big part of finding the solution. Businesses must develop ways to merge these graduates into the declining workforce as a solution to our industry's craft labor demands.
As a graduate of a technical welding college in 1990, I found the job market was not nearly as robust as it is today; in fact, it was exactly backwards. Jobs were not scarce, but there were plenty of experienced craftsmen to fill the openings in the job market. I remember right before graduating, I set out on a road trip through Texas and Louisiana job hunting and was told "no" so many times due to "no real experience" or "we need A-class welders." It was frustrating, to say the least. I had graduated with honors as No. 1 in my class and represented my college at the national level at the Annual Craft Competition, so surely I could talk someone into hiring me.
Now, over 25 years later, I find myself in the same position as the hiring managers I met with back when I was a young graduate. Today, the men and women who are currently graduating from technical colleges do not have any real work experience. They do not know or understand how to work safely, productively or the types of dangers that can occur during projects. To combat this, instead of being close-minded, I began thinking about how to bridge the skills gap, and strive to be part of the solution.
Along with other graduates from technical colleges and seasoned professionals in our industry, let's involve our teams, within our companies, to become appointed board members and technical advisors at technical training colleges. Here, they may have a say in planning the syllabi at the technical college training programs to steer them on the right path. We should also get involved at the high school trade school level to help attract more high school students to the future of the construction labor market.
Much like college sports recruiting, you start recruiting talent for future craftsmen while they are making decisions about their future in high school. High school students need to see that choosing a career in our industry is not only a sustainable solution for our industry, but a lucrative way to provide for their future.
Businesses are beginning to develop craft mentor programs. Much like a safety mentor program, a craft mentor program teams up the old with the new, the seasoned with the fresh. Creating a "team and teach" mentality allows several key job performance habits to be taught or handed down, allowing the new employees the opportunity to get up to speed in the workforce while learning their trade properly. Community colleges in both Texas and Louisiana have developed some great technical programs much at the demand of and the input of our industry.
With business providing the way for the graduates to become employed after graduation -- while keeping them safe and teaching them how to work their respective trades properly -- we will indeed close the gap in workforce demands while allowing attrition to happen naturally and pave the way for the new workforce.
For more information, visit www.bayoucityind.com, call (281) 842-9110 or email aaron@bayoucityind.com.