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Matt Ralston
General Manager
Construction
Coming Together for a Solution to Construction’s Defining Challenge
The last few years in the construction industry have brought a litany of headwinds: inflation, material price volatility, supply chain disruptions, tariffs and interest rate uncertainty.
While these headwinds have fluctuated in intensity, it can be argued that one constant — the availability of skilled craft labor — remains the largest constraint on progress in our industry.
Design-build/EPC contractors and trade organizations have long been investing in the recruitment, training and development of the craft workforce, building programs and partnerships designed to prepare people for successful construction careers. Now, major project owners, particularly in the data center market, are investing directly in workforce development, partnering with organizations that already have the infrastructure to recruit, train and prepare craft professionals for the jobsite.
This movement acknowledges an age-old reality: Projects cannot move forward without the people who build them.
Tomorrow's workforce will have different expectations, learn through different methods and leverage technology in ways previous generations never imagined. Meeting those workers where they are, while preserving the craftsmanship and mentorship that define construction, will determine the path forward for delivering increasingly complex projects and meeting customer demand.
Read our story in this quarter’s Construction Market Update to learn how the construction workforce of tomorrow is taking shape.
Live Safer,
Matt
The Construction Workforce Playbook Is Changing: Now What?
You can’t go a day without hearing about how artificial intelligence is automating white-collar jobs. But the physical world still runs on blue-collar labor. The growth of high-tech industries, from massive data centers to advanced manufacturing plants, ultimately depends on the people holding the tools and constructing the facilities.
A lack of skilled craft professionals remains one of the biggest bottlenecks facing industrial capital projects. Getting a project built on time, under budget or even started at all depends on having skilled labor on-site when needed.
As they have been for years, the numbers are stark. The construction industry creates nearly $2.1 trillion worth of structures each year and employs roughly 8 million people nationwide. Yet workforce shortages remain widespread. According to Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), over 450,000 net-new workers will be needed annually over the next few years just to keep construction supply and demand in place.
The industry has fought this battle for years. Seasoned skilled labor are retiring in large numbers, taking practical, hard-won knowledge with them just as the demand for more data centers, public works, power and infrastructure projects is exploding. With retirements significantly outpacing apprenticeship completions, the trades workforce deficit will continue to grow.
Project Owners Treat Labor as a Strategic Investment
More noteworthy than the shortage itself are the people and organizations working now to help address the issue. Project owners increasingly view labor availability as a strategic risk to their capital programs and are investing directly in workforce development. With business growth often tied to projects being completed on time, major technology companies are making significant investments in developing the craft workforce needed to support the industry’s expansion.
Meta, for example, launched its $115 million America’s Workforce Academy in states including Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Texas. Beginning in November, its accelerated four-week program will provide free training, housing, travel support and guaranteed jobs. Google is committing $50 million to unions and trade associations to help train more than 300,000 skilled-trades workers in the U.S. Companies like Micron, BlackRock and others are launching similar initiatives.
These companies bring three things the construction industry needs: capital, tech-enabled learning and global platforms to raise career awareness. By joining forces with established groups like ABC, they can tap ready-to-use facilities and seasoned instructors. In Houston, for example, ABC reaches upward of 10,000 trainees a year, including prospective craft professionals at 60 high schools in 23 districts.
This investment comes as contractors already face volatile material prices, supply chain instability, interest rate uncertainty and shifting economic policies. Instead of competing only for the existing pool of workers, forward-looking owners wanting to ease some of the project-delivery hardship are helping build a bigger pool. Their goal is to create more entry points into construction, establishing foundational skills and accelerating jobsite readiness.
Contractors across the industry likewise are expanding their own workforce-development infrastructure. The Burns & McDonnell Construction Academy, for example, complements these broader industry efforts by providing hands-on training, skills assessments and career exploration opportunities that help connect interested candidates with construction careers and prepare them for jobsite demands. During its first year, the Construction Academy delivered 14,245 training experiences through permanent facilities and mobile units on jobsites across the U.S.
Beyond the training numbers, the real story is the model that drives them. The Construction Academy is designed to support the full talent pipeline, from introducing people to construction careers to helping experienced craft professionals strengthen skills and pursue advancement opportunities. Its combination of classroom instruction, hands-on learning environments and mobile training units illustrates how focused workforce development can attract people to the industry while creating pathways for long-term career growth.
Embracing a New Workforce Playbook
Why does any of this matter? Construction is a massive economic multiplier, with every dollar spent generating three times that in total economic activity, according to ABC. When construction capacity falters, the effects reach far beyond jobsites to affect the economy.
As project owners invest in the workforce alongside traditional training, programs like the Construction Academy demonstrate how extended specialized training and foundational owner-funded pathways can work together. This collaborative approach shortens the ramp-up period for new workers and complements long-term craft development, helping professionals build lasting careers across the construction spectrum.
Apprenticeships, on-the-job training and long-term craft development aren’t going anywhere and will continue to provide the depth needed to build lasting careers. Programs like the Construction Academy help by giving prospective craft professionals opportunities to explore careers, assess their readiness and develop practical skills before stepping onto a jobsite. Those early experiences can serve as a foundation for continued growth through focused training, field experience and leadership development.
Owner-funded training program pathways, on the other hand, can shorten the ramp-up period for new workers while creating a foundation for continued specialized growth. Together, both forms of training will help expand the workforce pipeline and prepare craft professionals for careers in energy, manufacturing, transmission, water and infrastructure.
What begins as a workforce solution for a few companies can strengthen the entire industry, creating a workforce development playbook built around six priorities.
1 Workforce as a strategic investment
Workforce availability is no longer simply a human resources issue — it is a critical project and capital-program risk. Forward-looking project owners treat workforce development with the same strategic planning they give land acquisition and permitting.
2 Collaboration over competition
No contractor or project owner can solve the craft labor shortage alone. Success requires partnerships among project owners who know what capital projects are coming, contractors who know how to deliver them, and workforce development organizations that know how to recruit and train potential craft professionals. Together, these entities can create pathways that help people enter the industry more quickly while continuing to build the skills and experience needed for long-term craft mastery.
3 Focus on retention
The industry can't recruit its way out of a retention problem. Recruiting gets people through the door, but other factors give people a reason to stay. Nearly half of contractors have faced project delays from workforce shortages on their crews or subcontractor teams, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. Turning this around will involve showing workers a path from entry-level helper to field leader while offering clear leadership direction, a strong positive culture and sense of belonging.
4 Build a better jobsite culture
Workforce development happens every day on jobsites. Clean break areas, reliable supervision, high safety standards and respectful communication strengthen morale and retention. Jobsites where workers are treated well are more likely to retain them.
5 Leverage technology to do more
The industry cannot solve the labor challenge by adding headcount alone. Virtual reality, simulators and other tools can help new workers build skills safely, while digital planning, advanced scheduling, fabrication, modular construction and automation improve productivity with the workforce already in place. Rather than replacing craft professionals, technology extends the impact of experience.
6 Create flexible learning pathways
Traditional multiyear apprenticeships are vital, but faster entry points can complement them. Programs focused on foundational skills and immediate jobsite readiness allow people to begin contributing sooner — and before then they can continue developing through on-the-job training, apprenticeships, specialization and leadership opportunities.
Building Construction’s Future Craft Pipeline
While craft labor shortage attention from project owners is a great start, long-term success for contractors and clients alike depends on building a larger, more adaptable workforce.
The industry is beginning to match years of discussion about labor shortages with scalable action through owner investment, broader partnerships and complementary training models. Companies that treat workforce development as a long-term business strategy rather than a short-term hiring fix will be better positioned to deliver capital programs amid construction’s rising demand.
The opportunity goes beyond filling openings. Through people and partnership investments, owners, contractors and educators can use the new workforce playbook to help determine whether the labor shortage will ever be resolved or remains the defining industry challenge of our time.