The Regions Need for Skilled Trade Workers
Though it's now old news, the importance of highlighting the concern is only growing. For the past decade, there has been a rapid decrease in the job force that feeds the trades industry. Thousands of construction related businesses around the country are trying to fill millions of positions, and yet there is nobody to fill them. The below infographics highlight these numbers, showing the average age of skilled trade workers and the amount of jobs expected to be unfilled by 2020. Nearly 25% of the skilled labor work force will be retired by 2020, which will quickly translate to 25% of these vacated jobs remaining unfilled, causing thousands of companies to possibly go out of business. These are all large numbers affecting a multi-billion dollar industry, which inevitably will affect our overall economy.
In New Hampshire, the NH Home Builders Association has been trying to combat this concern for more than a decade through their partnership with local high schools, particularly Pinkerton Academy in Derry and Alvirne High School in Hudson. Both of these schools offer hands-on, technical training programs for students. Recently, the CTE center at Pinkerton hosted their 19th annual Trades Day & Mini Trade Show, which helps local businesses connect with upper classmen students with interests in welding, electrical engineering, construction, architecture, and more. The goal of the event is to build on the students' current interest, connect them with professionals in the area, and encourage them to enter the skilled trades industry. While such events may be small and have limited reach, their impact can be huge for an industry that is in desperate need of skilled workers.
Erickson Foundation Supportworks is proud to have participated in this event for the past 3 years. As exhibitors at the event, our company helps to sponsor a student enrolled with the CTE center at Pinkerton, and we're happy to continue our support of the youth in our community. We've enjoyed connecting with the students, learning about their studies and ambitions, and being a part of an event that helps bring the community closer together.
For more information on the statistics surrounding this national issue, below are a few articles discussing the concerns;
https://www.adeccousa.com/employers/resources/skilled-trades-in-demand/
More on Pinkerton and Alvirne technical programs;
http://www.pinkertonacademy.org/index.php/academics/2015-07-31-23-55-34
