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Historically, the first Wednesday in February is National Signing Day for recruits joining NCAA football programs. The public commitment of an athlete to their future is often full of excitement and brings them a great deal of recognition.
A handful of organizations such as SkillsUSA (National Signing Day, May 6; https://bit.ly/4j9FLNi) and schools all across the country have begun providing the same pomp to students committing to careers in the trades and construction (www.nc3.net/signingday).
As I spend time working with contractors around the country, the one recurring theme dominates our conversations: the labor shortage. This struggle (and battle) for skilled workers isn’t a minor annoyance or inconvenience; it’s a significant hurdle for the industry.
We can take a page from athletics and celebrate these young people when they commit to a career in our industry and, hopefully, encourage even more people to do so, creating a ripple effect. It could persuade more students to consider the trades and shine a positive light on our career paths.
We all love to be recognized and have our achievements highlighted. Imagine what it might do if we grew this movement. High school students would see their peers being applauded and celebrated for joining the trades, going into apprenticeships or trade schools.
Having these types of events allows for a level of pride and fanfare that could grow and build momentum, bringing more awareness to the benefits of these careers. Creating local events to highlight these high school seniors signing up to join construction will emphasize the prestige of that choice and inspire others to follow suit.
‘Not our grandparents’ trade jobs’
To have signees to fuel these events, we need to fill the funnel with “recruits.” For many of us in the industry, the case for a career in construction seems self-evident. Competitive pay and the absence of college debt are compelling arguments, but today’s young people are looking for more — they want purpose, pride and the chance to be part of something bigger than themselves.
What better field than construction to offer that? We know the sense of accomplishment when we drive down a street lined with buildings we helped design or build and see a skyline with our signature. That sense of tangible accomplishment is unique to our industry. We must showcase this pride early and often, planting the seed in young minds so they begin to wonder: “How can I be part of something like that?”
We must also demonstrate that these are not our grandparents’ trade jobs. We need to be at career fairs in local high schools or colleges. We need to bring tech such as augmented reality, virtual reality and lasers. We need to show young people that construction isn’t only hard hats and hammers; they will use a lot of technology and cool, fancy tools.
I am not usually a fan of highlighting the shiny object, but when kids can see how construction pushes the boundaries of real, practical uses of technology in the physical, built environment, you can see the wheels spinning and imaginations running wild. They get curious and see themselves applying those tools to the work.
Another thing we could do better is highlight our businesses locally. Often, construction firms are among the largest employers in the area, have been around the longest or provide the most stability to their employees. If we can bring this knowledge to students or, more importantly, their parents, through big signing day events, we may encourage them even more to dive deeper into the trades and construction fields.
I encourage you to see if there are signing events in your area. If not, work with your peers to begin creating them. Go to local high schools and see if students are considering a trades career, then work to create and promote a signing day.
Make a big deal about these kids. Invite the local media, their family and friends, local dignitaries, as well as local business leaders. Create branded hats and t-shirts to hand out to attendees. Create as much buzz and visibility as possible.
It’s often said that every challenge is an opportunity. This is our chance to provide the right spotlight to the skilled trades. To grow a strong economy of craftspeople who can build and fix once again. A chance to build a pipeline to fuel us with talent well into the future.
And we can start by having fun celebrating these young people joining our ranks. Make a big deal out of them. Make a difference.
Travis Voss is SMACNA’s director of innovative technology and fabrication. In this role, he aids member contractors in identifying the critical technological trends within the industry and assists them in remaining at the forefront of these developments. Before joining SMACNA, Voss worked for Helm Mechanical.