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Dive Brief:
- The Lowe Foundation is building on its previous workforce development efforts and doubling down on its goal of strengthening the trades workforce with new partnerships.
- The foundation has partnered with a who’s who of corporate America to launch The Building Futures Skilled Trades Coalition, with the goal of training 1 million new skilled workers by 2035according to an announcement Tuesday.
- It is the latest national initiative designed to boost the craft workforce. Earlier this summer, tech titans Meta and Google invested a collective $165 million in the commercial portfolio through their own programs in an effort to meet labor demand.
Diving knowledge:
Corporate leaders include Nvidia, AT&T, Bank of America, Carrier, General Motors, DEWALT and Duke Energy, among others.
Through the coalition, the Lowe’s Foundation and member companies will aim to change the perception of careers, invest in and scale proven training methods, and establish measures that demonstrate program progress from training to employment, according to the announcement.
The construction labor shortage is no mystery to the industry at large; by 2026 alone, Associated Builders and Contractors estimated the need for attract nearly 350,000 new workers to keep up with current construction demand. Contractors building in the booming data center industry have tried to sweeten profit deals to attract and retain workers.
In fact, project owners in the data center space are making this recruiting effort similar to Lowe’s. In June, Meta created the American Workforce Academya $115 million plan to provide free skilled trades training for eventual employment in data center jobs. shortly after, Google pledged $50 million to support construction unions and associations, with the goal of reaching 300,000 workers in 20 states.
The coalition led by the Lowe’s Foundation is supported by more than 75 member companies, according to the announcement, which include entities from the skilled trades ecosystem. In addition to the corporate leaders, other coalition members include the National Association of Home Builders, the National Center for Construction Education and Research, and SkillsUSA and Carhartt.
“The next industrial revolution won’t be built by algorithms alone. It will be built by the millions of skilled trade professionals who power, connect and move this country forward,” Lowe’s President and CEO Marvin Ellison said in the announcement.
