Awareness and Recruiting

John Killin, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors’ Pacific Northwest chapter and executive director of the Independent Electrical Contractors of Oregon, published an interesting article in Oregon’s Daily Journal of Commerce on the future of the skilled workforce.

He issues a call to action that now is the time to begin the hiring and training of the skilled workforce for the future.  He writes:

“Years are required to prepare people for the leadership roles they will fill in the future. In licensed trades, years are needed to simply move someone from entry level to license-in-hand, full journey-level status.

“Contractors that are beginning to add workers should be sure apprenticeship is at the top of their hiring priorities.  Read more »

Texas Workforce Commissioner Tom Pauken was right on target about our skilled workforce crisis in a speech he recently gave at the Texas State Technical College (TSTC) in Waco, Texas.  Pauken stated:

“The time has come to return to an educational model which recognizes the value of career education and encourages the young people of Texas to have such learning opportunities at the high school and post-secondary school levels.  It really is just a matter of common sense.  We have accepted for too long this misguided notion that everyone should go to a four-year university.  That flies in the face of reality and human nature.  We have different talents and different abilities.  Let’s design a school finance and accountability system which recognizes that and re-establishes the importance of skills training to provide young Texans with terrific career opportunities.  Read more »

Last month I attended “Built To Last”, SER’s 47th Anniversary Gala at the historic Rice Lofts in downtown Houston.  Video excerpts from the evening are posted below.  The event served to honor some of the leaders who have supported SER – Jobs for Progress, to provide allies of SER the chance to meet each other, and to raise money for SER’s programs.  SER, which stands for “Service, Employment, and Redevelopment”, offers training and employment services to people in low-income, at-risk communities.  The evening included a gathering hour where business and community leaders networked and mingled over drinks and hors d’oeuvres, opportunities to bid on items in a silent auction, an elegant dinner served in the Crystal Ballroom, an inspiring program about the organization, and dancing to live music.   Read more »

Last year I reported that Go Build has its roots in Alabama.  On January 17, 2012, Governor Nathan Deal announced the launch of the Go Build Georgia initiative.  The goal of the initiative is to address the shortage of workers for skilled trades.  Like Go Build Alabama, the initiative will focus on public outreach to educate the citizens of Georgia on the availability of career opportunities that exist today in construction.   In the following video, Governor Deal introduces the initiative.  He states:

“Everyone knows that this is a difficult job market, but not as many know that Georgia is projected to create approximately 16,500 openings in skilled trades in the next year alone.  Go Build is about providing Georgians with the training that they need to fill these positions.”   Read more »

Saied Alavi, operations manager at Marek Brothers Systems Houston, recently visited Guadalupe “Lupe” Ramos at a job site where Marek is installing drywall in medical office space for Baylor Clinic & Hospital.  Lupe came through Marek’s workforce development program, and is currently an employee with the rank of “Helper” on the Marek Career Path.  In the video below, Saied talks with Lupe and his Marek “Coach”, Kevin Mathews, about how Lupe came to work for Marek and the difference his job has made in his life.

Lupe was familiar with the construction industry growing up because some of his uncles install ceilings for companies in California and Texas.  A few weeks after graduating high school, he filled out an application at Marek in Houston after hearing about the company from one of his uncles.  He was initially planning to apply to be an acoustical ceiling trainee, but while he was at the office applying for work, someone pointed out Buddy Britt, training coordinator at Marek, Read more »

CareerCast, an online career search firm, released its 2012 rankings of the Best and Worst jobs in the United States.  Construction jobs have climbed out of the basement where they were 2 years ago and are now showing steady improvement.  That is a good indicator for the industry and for those who are considering construction as a career.

The annual survey ranks the top 200 jobs on the basis of five factors: environment, income, outlook, physical demands and stress.  This year’s rankings show that construction jobs are steadily moving up the ladder.

The 2012 listing shows that Brick Masons rank 72 on the list, higher than Electrical Engineer at 73, Elementary School Principal at 74, Stockbroker at 77 and Attorney at 87.  Plumber were ranked 75th on the list.  Electricians were 81st.  Construction Foreman ranked 86th on the list above Teachers (92), Clergy (93), and Airline Pilots (104).

The job of Construction Worker was ranked at number 173, a marked improvement from 2010 when the same job was listed in the 10 worst jobs at 193.  Read more »

This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to listen in on approximately 4½  hours of testimony on workforce training programs in Texas.  The hearing was held by the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce who have been charged to study whether such workforce training programs currently meet business and worker needs in Texas.  On the whole, the discussion was positive because there was a definite recognition by all presenters, as well as by the members of the committee, of the need to focus more on “career ready” as opposed to only “college ready” students.  It seems there is a wide variety of career opportunities available to high school graduates with the proper skills training.   Read more »

Last month Cornerstone, the quarterly magazine of American General Contractors Houston (AGC), published an article about the Construction Career Collaborative (C³), the initiative advanced by socially responsible owners, contractors and specialty contractors in the Houston area to improve the commercial construction industry by embracing principles that will lead to a sustainable craft workforce.  Titled Building a Viable Career Path: C³ Brings Owners and Contractors Together in Favor of Training, Fair Wages, and High-Quality Craft Workers, the article offers a comprehensive view of C³ from its task force origin two years ago through its development and promotion to its current position preparing to launch with a few “beta” projects.   Read more »

The Construction Citizen series about the presentation of two possible scenarios for what Houston might be like 30 years from now continues.  In this video containing the last of the “exit interviews” which the Construction Citizen team gathered following the 2030 Scenarios Event, attendees offered their first impressions and thoughts about the presentation and the discussion that October evening.  The first scenario presented was “Learning to Live” and was given the color green as a way to identify it from the second scenario, which was “Playing to Win” and which was identified with the color blue.   Read more »

Following an event at the offices of Marek Brothers Systems at which Houston professionals were introduced to two possible scenarios for the city’s future, some of the attendees offered their first impressions and thoughts about the presentation and the discussion.  In the video below, you can listen to parts of three conversations which took place as the attendees were leaving for the evening.

First you will see Donna Rybiski of the Center for Houston’s Future interviewing Bonnie McLoud and Kent Wiseman.  Donna asked them Read more »