Who Will Fuel The Construction Boom In North Carolina?

The construction industry is growing rapidly across the country, and North Carolina is no exception. Recent corporate tax cuts and now the prospect of increased infrastructure spending have contractors busy with new building projects across the spectrum.

But the number of skilled workers isn't keeping pace with the demand, and there's a serious shortage of qualified subcontractors and managers in virtually all of the trades.

Home Builders Association of Winston-Salem's Beverly Hayes says that even with the current need for skilled tradesmen and countless job opportunities for often good-paying jobs, convincing today's generation to enter the construction industry is a hard sell. She says the declining numbers of young workers may have to do with lingering fears over the recession in 2008, and the fact that schools emphasize other career paths.

“The counselors aren't really funneling the kids into two-year programs,” says Hayes. “They're pushing them into four-year programs. And there are plenty of students who are going to get their four-year degree, and actually not even finishing, but dropping out at the first semester. There are kids that are going, getting their degree, and coming out without jobs.”

Home Builders Association of Winston-Salem has worked to reverse this trend. For nearly thirty years, they've partnered with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Career Center, Forsyth Technical Community College, and Habitat for Humanity, preparing students for careers in carpentry.

Funding the program (CTE Partnership), and maintaining enrollment numbers has been an ongoing challenge, but Hayes says she sees hope for the industry if more awareness is raised. She points to a national marketing campaign begun several years ago in Alabama as a possible model for North Carolina.

“Go Build America was started to address this problem with the skilled labor shortage,” says Hayes. “They put together videos that talk about different [construction] jobs and what you need to get those jobs, and where you need to go to school to learn, and gain skills. What this has done for Alabama is it actually boosted all the community colleges in the state. Their enrollment numbers went way up in all the skills trade classes that they had. And the end result was that you had more people coming out on the other side that can actually do the jobs that are needed to be done, and it brings more jobs to the state. So, it's a win-win.”

According to recent Associated General Contractors of America study, more than 70 percent of contractors surveyed in North Carolina say they're planning to add to their workforce this year. But increasingly companies are faced with two choices: hire workers with less experience and skills, or raise salaries and improve benefits in order to recruit and retain a more qualified workforce.