U.S. employers need more than a million workers to meet construction industry demand, and the industry's labor shortage is a reality throughout the country.
Go Build America, a recently launched industry-driven recruiting program, hopes to address this issue, according to www.equipmentworld.com.
Go Build America reports the average age of a tradesman currently is 47, and only one out of 10 are women. The mission of the program is to provide crucial recruitment resources directly to employers and associations throughout the U.S. to rebrand and promote the skilled trades.
Go Build America is expanding upon existing state programs—Go Build Alabama, Go Build Tennessee and Go Build California.
"Our industry has seen an unprecedented demand for skilled workers following the Great Recession, which has only been compounded by recent natural disasters along the Gulf Coast and out west," says Bob Woods, CEO and president of Go Build America. Woods is a 40-year veteran of the construction industry and first executive director of Go Build Alabama.
"In our discussions all throughout the U.S., workforce groups, training programs and companies continue to call on us to collaborate on working to address this continued crisis," Woods says in a press release. "We've also realized at the national level that no marketing campaign of this magnitude is promoting the multitude of construction-related career paths—especially as President Trump seeks to strengthen America's workforce and create five million new apprenticeships. This new initiative will allow organizations large and small to utilize and benefit from our proven outreach strategy and connectivity tools—and bring our entire industry together with one cohesive message: Go Build America."
The organization's website includes new and enhanced versions of videos, infographics and messaging featured in Go Build state programs. It's designed to reach out to people of all ages—from high school students to seasoned laborers. The website also allows skilled tradesmen and women to post their resumes and search for job openings throughout the U.S.; employers soon will be able to post openings.
