By Ian Warner, Director of Industry Workforce Development and Innovation, Trimble
Raise your hard hat if you’ve heard this before: the construction industry has a labor problem. Robotic layout operators, virtual design and construction technicians, concrete specialists, electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians and carpenters—from front office executives to employees in the trenches, nearly every construction role is in high demand and hard to fill.
According to Associated Builders and Contractors, the U.S. construction industry will need to attract 439,000 net new workers this year alone to balance current needs, with a gap of nearly 500,000 anticipated in 2026. In Europe, it’s anticipated more than 2 million workers will be needed in the construction sector by 2030; both net new workers and those to replace aging workers leaving the workforce. Contractors are under so much pressure to get bodies on sites that their crews could consist of people who were building footlong sandwiches at the local deli last week, and are now building a data center or critical infrastructure project.
In the U.S., this shortfall is rooted in nearly a century of complex factors, from major conflicts like World War II, Vietnam and Korea that diverted skilled workers to the battlefield, to dramatic policy shifts in the 1980s and 1990s that led to the decline of trades classes in schools, drained talent pipelines and stigmatized many blue-collar careers.
These stereotypes and misconceptions are unfortunately buried deep in our culture; they were prevalent when I started my career as a project manager 25 years ago and they still stubbornly persist today. Combined with a decades-long PSA of ‘degree or bust’ and a construction workforce with an average age closer to 50 than 30, our supply of talent has simply fallen further and further behind demand.
A shotgun approach to next-generation recruitment
This gap has spurred many construction companies to explore untapped, non-traditional labor pipelines to find the next generation of workers—disadvantaged communities, active military and veterans, women (who now comprise a quarter or more of many construction management and civil engineering programs) and even the prison system. An iron worker friend of mine was recruited directly out of prison with the promise to make ‘wheelbarrows of cash,’ and by the time she finished her apprenticeship, she could weld together her own wheelbarrow and made more than $175,000 a year.
Companies must also contend with a shifting generational mentality. I sit on the advisory board for Colorado State University’s (CSU) construction management program, and every year they have a 98%-plus placement rate, but this year it dropped to 75%. Not because students weren’t offered jobs, but because one-in-four graduates wanted a gap year to strike a better work-life balance before they faced the reality of 12-hour shifts and long commutes.
On the ground, the cost of this labor shortfall can be as dangerous as it is disruptive, from project delays to site safety to the quality of the install. A lack of skilled workers often translates to more overruns, more rework and more accidents, all of which can be potentially devastating for families and construction companies as they try to scope future projects and scale operations.
Education and exposure: A Trimble blueprint for pipeline development
The blueprint for pipeline fulfillment starts with education and exposure. If young people aren’t aware of the benefits and diversity of construction careers in middle and high school, there’s little chance they will find these careers once they graduate. That’s why Trimble sponsors several primary and secondary school programs such as Construction GIRL, SketchUp for Schools and Project Spectrum to inspire and introduce young women, kids on the autism spectrum and other students to careers in construction, architecture and STEM.
Trimble also partners with universities, colleges and premier higher learning institutions around the world through Trimble Technology Labs—an intensive collaboration that provides students in construction management, civil engineering, geospatial and architecture programs access to cutting-edge software and hardware used by leading professionals in their fields. What started as a pilot program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2015 has since expanded to roughly 12,000 students in 30-plus labs in 14 countries across five continents. With exposure to a variety of disciplines—from AEC conceptual design and construction field systems to geospatial fieldwork, mapping and data collection—students gain hands-on experience with equipment and technology that not only elevates their course work and bolsters their resumes but also prepares them for a seamless transition to the workforce upon graduation. In fact, when these students are exposed to modern solutions like Robotic Total Stations or augmented reality, they actually outperform some seasoned journeymen who don’t have the same technology familiarity.
The Trimble Technology Lab provides students with hands-on experience with a wide breadth of Trimble solutions.
This is the reason for complementing our grassroots education and outreach strategy with a robust training program, to not only prepare our next generation but to upskill the backbone of our existing workforce. With a rich partner and distribution network that helps with trainings for trade unions under NABTU.org and the Carpenters Union to trade groups like Associated Builders and Contractors and the National Center for Construction Education & Research, there is a mindset of a rising tide lifts all boats—whether their members use Trimble solutions or a competitor’s, more technology-friendly talent will lead to better workflows and more efficient work sites. And proof is in the project. Trimble clients report efficiency gains of 30% or higher for tradespeople who participate in these trainings and embrace the technology.
No magic hammer to close the labor gap
I was at the dentist recently and after the dental hygienist saw ‘architecture’ in my LinkedIn profile, she explained her daughter was interested in a similar career path. I recommended that, as her daughter was interested in actually building things as well as design, she should explore construction management, a degree that takes less time and offers a significantly better starting wage. A few days later, I received an appreciative text that her daughter was now exploring these programs, working with SketchUp for Schools and applying for the CSU Construction GIRL week next summer.
There is simply no single solution to attract more skilled workers to construction. It’ll take a persistent full-court press—early exposure, plentiful education opportunities, accessible training programs and the occasional plug at the dentist’s office—to shift our collective mindset and exalt the benefits of these careers. For companies and clients that need to tap into a consistent talent pipeline, Trimble has boots on the ground and solutions in the field to help reduce school-to-site friction and produce more efficient workforces ready to meet the needs, demands and challenges of tomorrow’s work.
Contact us to learn how Trimble can help unlock your team’s potential or how you can help inspire the next generation of construction talent.
