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Dive Brief:
- Major tech companies are putting their money into the skilled labor crisis. Google announced Thursday that it would invest $50 million in construction trades training.
- The money will support 14 unions and four trade and contractor associations, with the goal of reaching 300,000 workers in 20 states. The goal is to help raise the level of training and outreach, which will better educate a new wave of workers to help meet the high demand for construction projects, including data center builds.
- Google’s announcement follows a similar move by Meta just days earlier. The social media giant on Monday pledged $115 million to form America’s Workforce Academy and create a portfolio of workers for their different projects.
Diving knowledge:
Where Google’s effort differs greatly from Meta’s is the end goal.
The investment from the company behind Facebook and Instagram promised free training, followed by the opportunity to work on data center construction projects in the regions where it is being built.
Google, on the other hand, is investing in workforce development for people interested in the trades “regardless of where they want to work,” Maggie Johnson, global head of Google.org, wrote in the post announcing the funds.
The tech giant’s announcement outlined some of the details with the partners that will use the funds to try to close the skilled labor gap.
For example, TradesFutures, an organization created by the Building Trades Unions of North America, will increase access to a union construction career by increasing placement for apprenticeship preparation and registered apprenticeship programs.
Google previously had invested in the Electrical Training Alliance — an organization created by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the National Electrical Contractors Association — with the goal of training 100,000 electrical workers and 30,000 new apprentices in the U.S. Now, etA will help local training programs by bringing resources to infrastructure centers in a mobile training center pilot.
Meanwhile, the United Association’s International Training Fund, in partnership with the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, will develop a five-year roadmap to scale the plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration sectors. This will help give workers the skills needed to build and maintain infrastructure for data center builds.
Finally, the International Training Institute for the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Industry, with support from sheet metal workers, air, rail and transportation and sheet metal and air conditioning contractors, will modernize its courses and learner support and implement new AI tools.
“No single entity can solve this American labor shortage alone,” Johnson wrote in the announcement. “There needs to be engagement between industry, civil society and government, so that we can build modern workplace training and expand apprenticeships together.”
