According to recent data from the Construction Labor Market Analyzer, the construction industry will need 1.5 million additional craft professionals by 2019. To highlight this shortage and create a sustainable pipeline of craft professionals, states are proclaiming October as Careers in Construction Month.
Alabama, Indiana, Nebraska and Mississippi already have proclamations signed by their state governors declaring October as Careers in Construction Month (CICM). This nationwide campaign is designed to increase public awareness of the opportunities available in the construction industry. Schools, contractors and organizations are encouraged to partner locally and host construction career events throughout the month. In recent surveys conducted at local career fairs, 92 percent of the students attending these events stated the career fairs increased their interest in careers in construction.
NCCER's Build Your Future (BYF) initiative has made resources available to help connect industry and education representatives with their state offices to file proclamations.
How to Submit a Proclamation:
- Download BYF's State Proclamation Guidelines. Find your state, and follow the link to your specific state proclamation guidelines.
- The only requirement for filing a proclamation is that you must be a resident of the state you are filing in. It can take between two weeks and six months to have a proclamation approved.
- Many states will request “Where As” statements or proclamation text. Copy the text from this sample proclamation and fill in the necessary information.
BYF offers a Careers in Construction Month Field Manual that provides comprehensive instructions for creating a successful career campaign in your local area. In addition, a detailed How to Plan a Career Day guide is available and gives organizers a checklist for planning a local or regional career event.
As an industry, it is our job to showcase construction's amazing careers to the next generation. Through events like these, students are introduced to numerous opportunities in the construction industry, and we can create and maintain a pipeline of skilled craft professionals for years to come. Let's work together and get all 50 states to recognize October as Careers in Construction Month. We need to come together as an industry and promote construction careers as successful options for America's youth.
