At the time I am drafting this column, the second National Careers in Trades Week is happening (April 6-10). What does this mean for contractors like you who are seeking out workers and doing the hiring? I am enormously proud to be part of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA). We are working with SMART (Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation), the International Training Institute, the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA), the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), the National Energy Management Institute, the Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust (SMOHIT) and the Heavy Metal Summer Experience (HMSE) to align and speak with one voice, using the same message and pointing toward the same issue.

I write and speak about this often and, as someone in the industry, you don’t need to be told what this issue is. You are experiencing it on your jobsites and in your fab shops, and as you’re building out your labor curves for your jobs. How can you possibly take on your backlog without the workforce growing to support it? 

While this annual week is to celebrate us and the work we do, it is more for those who still aren’t aware of the incredible careers in our industry.

Changing mindsets

There is a point to putting it this plainly. These national campaigns can sometimes come off like patting ourselves on the back or simply getting overlooked by those already living in the industry. The primary audiences being targeted are teenagers who have never considered the trades, or parents who are still holding on to the old college-first-construction-is-not-a-viable-option mindset. 

Not to mention the school counselors who are still pushing their students to pursue four-year degrees and enormous college debt. The important point of this campaign is that we are not the audience; we are the building blocks, we are the message. We are also speaking to women, veterans, and anyone seeking to make a smart career pivot, and providing opportunities for those who are mechanically intelligent. 

A Wakefield Research study commissioned by SMACNA reports that 75% of teens ages 13 to 18 would consider entering the trades rather than college if they knew they would earn a higher-than-average wage (https://bit.ly/47T2SYq). Adding to those numbers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects more than 600,000 job openings in construction annually! 

If we can show these teens that the median for trade wages is $58,000 per year, which is well above the national median for all jobs (with union workers earning $23,000 above nonunion), we have such a great story to tell. What we have faced has been more of a distribution and marketing problem — and that is what the National Careers in Trades Week is meant to address.

So, how can we in the industry participate?

The first thing we can all do is amplify the message. Use your networks, such as your personal and social media presence, to promote the website (https://nationalcareersintradesweek.com). Use the hashtag #TradeJobsWork when you highlight any pictures or videos of the work you do. Create videos or post pictures highlighting your apprentices and your fab shop; any such content will excite and add to the national conversation. This type of campaign only works if enough voices join in.

Beyond that, look for other ways to engage and reach out in your local community. Call guidance counselors. Look for technical education programs in your area where you can speak to students. Talk to high schools and offer shop tours. 

Ask your apprentices if they would be willing to do a career day. Having those apprentices speak about the real wages, the real skills and the real rewards they experience in the construction trades will do more than any website, radio ad or company brochure will ever do. Just as we prefer to learn from our peers, these kids are no different.

This can be a great opportunity to engage with and promote your relationship with your local Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee. Encourage the group to host an event and bring in your leadership as well as your peers in the area. Having contractors visible in those spaces can speak to the work that matters. It is important that potential apprentices can see that companies are eager to bring them on board.

Year-long promotion

It doesn’t end there! We need to keep promoting our industry and the wonderful careers it provides. We see more and more that Gen Z is becoming more interested in the trades than any other recent generation. According to a Thumbtack Survey of GenZ graduates with a college degree, nine in 10 said a skilled trade can be a better path to economic development and security than their college degrees (https://bwnews.pr/3NUUMI1). 

If we are not actively engaged with high schools (or middle schools), community colleges or other workforce development programs in our local markets, another industry will be.

We should also be seeking to create a pipeline of recruits. This means we continue to reach out. We continue to show up at career fairs and career days. We take it a step further and work with the local training programs to develop curriculums. We take an active role with school boards when trade career funding is being discussed. Your business development strategy should go beyond securing work and include active community outreach.

In the second year of this effort, this National Careers in Trades Week is the broadest we’ve seen. Adding NECA and MCAA alongside SMART, SMOHIT, HMSE and SMACNA is a clear signal that the mechanical, electrical and sheet metal industries all recognize that the workforce challenge is bigger than any one trade. Just as on a well-run jobsite, we are better when we’re well coordinated together. We are making progress at a national level; now we need you to help at your local level.

By the time this column is published, the week of national promotion will have passed. What did your company do with it? What did you do to promote these careers in your local market? Hopefully, you set something in motion that will continue to pay off year over year. 

This pipeline problem will not solve itself in a single week, even if repeated annually. The contractors who continue to succeed will be the ones who treat this as an ongoing workforce strategy to build stronger communities through the incredible opportunities we offer. 

Travis Voss is the director of innovative technology and fabrication at the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association. 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 as its leader of innovative technology. He serves his local community as a volunteer firefighter.