Last summer, Texas high school students Zara Willard and Nicholas John, both 14, received hands-on construction training and inspiration to pursue engineering and construction careers at TRF Camp Build in Austin. The free five-day program for students in grades 6-8, also held in Sherman, Texas, and other cities across the US, was sponsored by Rosendin Electric, the fifth US specialty company on the Top 600 list ENR specialist contractors and the largest electricity company. company in the Texas-Louisiana market.
Led by Rosendin’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit, The Rosendin Foundation and other industry leaders, the program guided 16 selected students as they learned basic on-site and office skills.
Willard used several power tools, including a nail gun; observed heavy machinery such as a forklift and a mini excavator; poured concrete; safety skills learned; and I heard about careers related to construction. John spent his time building steps; solder a copper support; flex duct; use virtual reality to estimate a construction; wiring a steampunk lamp; and building and painting the house for donation to a local animal shelter
“TRF Camp Build opened my eyes to the many different engineering and construction jobs that are available,” said Willard, of Austin. “I really enjoy working with my hands and building things, and the program made me even more interested in pursuing engineering as a career.”
John, another aspiring engineer who is now a high school student in Houston, said, “Before TRF Camp Build, I thought that working with computers was what I was interested in because I recently built my own game. But through [it], I realized that designing and building is what fascinated me about computers. Engineering might be a good fit for me, and I liked how the camp made the concept of engineering tangible. I’m excited to use my new tools and see what other things I can build.”
Go all over the country
Milwaukee Tool® and DEWALT®/StanleyBlack&Decker provided the students with personal protective equipment and a tool kit to recognize their achievements and as a reminder to consider careers in construction and engineering as they progress in their education.
TRF Camp Builds were also held from May to July in Gallatin, Tennessee, Charlotte, NC, Tempe, Arizona, and Anaheim, California. A total of 71 youth attended the California program, split equally between male and female students. “This way, all campers can see that both boys and girls can use tools to build and be successful in construction and engineering,” said Jolsna Thomas, president of TRF.
In 2019, Thomas was the inaugural chair of the NAWIC Camp aligned with the National Association of Women in Construction in Austin, a free weeklong construction day camp for middle-aged girls in central Texas, Rosendin went become the main sponsor.
Women make up only 3 to 15% of the industry, she explains. To help address this, NAWIC’s Austin chapter in 2022 awarded $45,000 in scholarships, regardless of gender. The NAWIC Founders Scholarship Foundation also sponsors the NFSF Scholarship, which annually offers awards from $500 to $2,500.
“The employees at Rosendin really enjoyed sharing their time and talent with the campers, and I recommended that we start our own national co-ed construction camp to build and empower the next generation of builders,” he says. TRF Camp Builds was the result.
Building awareness
The need for a new generation of skilled artisan workers in the industry is long-standing. Texas A&M University estimates the state will have a shortage of 51,000 engineers by 2028. The annual workforce survey released recently by the Associated General Contractors of America and Autodesk found that of the 1,400 companies surveyed, 85 percent report open positions they are trying to fill and 88% reported difficulty filling at least some of these positions. The needs remain regardless of company size, job location, market sector, and whether or not you are unionized.
“The main takeaway from this year’s labor force survey is the extent to which the nation is failing to prepare future workers for high-paying careers in fields like construction,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist at ‘AGC. “It’s time to rethink the way the nation educates and prepares workers.”
Too little exposure to construction skills at an early age is a factor, says Ron Wilson, vice president of Anaheim-based Rosendin, who oversees the company’s 80 electrical and civil engineers.
He recalls that in the late 1980s, high schools began abandoning construction and engineering industrial arts classes to build computer labs ready to prepare students for the information age, with no more infrastructure or buildings that they should be built, or so it was thought: he said, adding that the lack remains embedded in the education system.
Compounding this lapse, he says, is the inefficient way the industry has responded. “Construction and engineering don’t do so well for young people to know what kind of opportunities are out there.”
The recruiting net must be extended to high school, even elementary school, with an eye on diversity, Wilson explains. “Even if we get more women involved in construction, we still may not fill the gap, but it will help,” she says.
The construction workforce is also aging as baby boomers retire and are replaced by a smaller group of GenXers, Millennials and GenZers, with many choosing other career paths. “We’re retiring more workers than we’re adding over the next decade, and it’s only going to get worse if we don’t do something about it,” says Wilson.
“Multiple Paths to Success”
A few years ago, construction project managers moved to tech companies, attracted by higher wages, image, better working conditions and other benefits, says Phil Thoden, president of AGC’s Austin chapter. “Technology companies realized that project managers were adept at managing the ‘paperwork beast,'” he says, noting how essential that skill is in construction.
But the technology has lost some of that glamor recently, he explains. Battered by Covid, inflation and high interest rates, tech has seen significant layoffs. “Construction here in Austin has gone from crazy busy to just busy recently,” he says. “But even with this slowdown, it continues to offer many career opportunities and job security for those who remain in the industry.”
The chapter has supported the foundation program and is also involved in the ACE mentor program and with local schools and colleges. The chapter’s Construction Leadership Council awards $10,000 in scholarships annually.
The AGC workforce report urges government officials to increase investment in programs that expose students to the opportunities and skills needed for careers in construction. Simonson notes, “Encouraging funding for programs that expose students to skills in careers like construction will signal to them that there are multiple paths to success in life, and one is not better than another.”
