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In the New Pandemic-Driven Reality, Skilled Trade Jobs in the Building Industry is Path Forward for Thousands of Displaced Workers
The nation’s home builders face a severe skilled labor shortage. Some of the jobs that are in highest demand are carpenters, electricians, HVAC and solar installers, plumbers, painters, and masonry workers. In the previous two quarters, unfilled positions in construction have averaged 275,000, according to Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
At the same time, the pandemic has displaced millions of American workers in hospitality and many other industries. A disproportionate number of young people, women, minorities, and lower-income adults have been hit the hardest. The good news: the acute labor shortage in the home construction business can provide new opportunities to unemployed and displaced workers.
It’s time for a major national focus on training new workers in the skilled building trades. First on the agenda must be a change in the perception of trade jobs. Too many high school students, and those who influence their decisions, never consider the opportunities available for well-paying jobs and promising careers in construction after graduation.
The education and resources are available for those who need and want to enter a new field in this changing economy.
The Home Builders Institute (HBI), historically renowned in the construction industry for its training curriculum, is making significant inroads --- stepping up its efforts to join forces with the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to help close the skilled labor gap. The independent nonprofit trains skilled workers for the building industry. It is the nation’s leading provider of career technical education in construction. HBI offers construction career training, certification programs, advance training, and job placement for more than 10,000 students each year.
It is the largest residential construction trainer for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Corps.
HBI, in partnership with the NAHB, has pledged to train 50,000 workers over five years to prepare students for building industry careers and meet the demand for skilled labor.
Through the financial support of The Home Depot Foundation, HBI is training transitioning military on bases across the country. The foundation, in partnership with the National Housing Endowment, also now funds a grant program to high schools to implement HBI’s pre-apprenticeship curriculum in residential construction for students to earn industry-recognized credentials. The “Schools-to-Skills” program is currently accepting HBI’s third round of applications (for more information and application, visit: www.hbi.org/s2s. Applications are due by March 31st, 2021).
More efforts like these are necessary. Even before the housing boom that was triggered by the pandemic, the home building industry was experiencing the massive worker shortage. One solution to the loss of jobs in other sectors is to make the possibility of careers in construction more visible to the
emerging generation of workers.
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