BlackRock, Ford Motor Co., Google and Carhartt on July 21 launched the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades, a national coalition aimed at expanding workforce training amid labor shortages affecting infrastructure, energy and manufacturing.
The coalition expands on a number of company-led workforce initiatives launched earlier this year, including BlackRock’s $100 million Future Builders program in March and Meta Platforms’ $115 million craft training partnership with Associated Builders and Contractors announced in June.
The alliance aims to expand access to specialized careers, identify and scale effective learning and training programs, publish a national labor gaps report, and recruit additional industry, labor, education and nonprofit partners. The founders said their training efforts already span 30 states.
“At Ford, we recognize that the skilled labor shortage is a national crisis, but also a generational opportunity,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley. “These vital businesses and industries form the backbone of the American economy, and their future is America’s future.”
Collective resources
Rather than establishing a new funding pool, the coalition builds on investments previously announced by its members.
BlackRock has already committed $100 million to connect 50,000 skilled workers over five years, while Ford has pledged to invest $300 million in skilled workforce development and its broader “Essential Economy” initiative by 2026. Google has committed $50 million to programs aimed at preparing more than 300 workers in its states and 00000000 workers. the Love of Labor program has supported more than 60 community and non-profit organizations since 2022.
“Investment in America’s infrastructure will help shape the country’s long-term economic trajectory, but its success ultimately depends on the skilled workforce that makes these projects a reality,” said Bayo Ogunlesi, president and CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners, a unit of BlackRock. “Expanding this talent pipeline requires a long-term commitment and partnership across sectors.”
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Federal labor data underscores continued demand for construction workers. The industry had an estimated 298,000 job openings in May, up 32,000 from April, while its seasonally adjusted job opening rate rose to 3.5 percent from 3.1 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Separately, the coalition cited research by JLL that estimated 2.1 million skilled trades jobs could go unfilled by 2030, including jobs for electrical workers, technicians and construction workers.
“Building the physical infrastructure for America’s future requires significantly increasing the pipeline of skilled merchants across the country,” Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, said in the announcement.
The pressures on the industry’s workforce are likely to intensify, said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America.
“It is encouraging that more project owners are recognizing the need for greater private and public investment in training future construction workers,” he said. “Needs will grow steadily as retirements increase, the number of young adults continues to decline and immigration declines.”
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The coalition did not identify an alliance-wide enrollment goal, disclose how the founding members’ programs would be coordinated, or specify whether additional funding commitments are expected.
In June, ENR reported that Meta and ABC launched America’s Workforce Academy, the second major workforce initiative affecting the construction industry announced in recent weeks. The program provides credentials from the National Center for Construction Research and Education and ties the training to conditional job offers for contractors working on Meta projects, while the tech company has projected that the growth of AI infrastructure could require approximately 500,000 electricians nationwide.
The latest coalition said its first major initiative will be a Skilled Trades Report, to be developed with Jobs for the Future and Burning Glass that will measure job gaps, track progress and identify effective workforce development practices as other partners join the effort.
