https://www.post-gazette.com/business/career-workplace/2021/05/10/84-Lumber-SkillsUSA-National-Signing-Day-skilled-labor-shortage-trades-workers/stories/ [login to see] 53
What a great idea:
With confetti, applause and a nod of approval from former Steelers star Jerome Bettis, Kayla Gomez signed on to her future career.
The scene — with flashing cameras and music blaring from a DJ’s booth — matched the fanfare you might expect to see after a high school athlete commits to play basketball or football for a Division I college. But Ms. Gomez wasn’t interested in athletics.
She was committing to masonry.
“I’m just thankful to so many people who got me to this place,” Ms. Gomez, 17, from Uniontown said Thursday after signing a letter of intent to pursue a skilled trades career. “It’s a rush right now. I don’t even know what to say.”
Hoping to drum up attention for the skilled trades and excitement for the young workers who are committing to them, Washington County-based 84 Lumber partnered with SkillsUSA, a nonprofit based in Virginia that works to strengthen the nation’s skilled workforce, to host a National Signing Day.
High school graduates interested in masonry, welding, carpentry, electrical work and other skilled labor jobs signed letters of intent and walked away with scholarships to help fund the training needed to pursue those careers, whether that was an apprenticeship or a trade school.
“Skilled trades have always been essential, and they always will be,” Chelle Travis, the executive director for SkillsUSA, told the group of students Tuesday.
“Take pride in the paths that you’ve chosen. Take pride in what you’re passionate about,” she said. “Our future’s aren’t just in good hands, they’re in skilled hands.”
Former Steelers star Jerome Bettis takes part in a National Signing Day event at 84 Lumber in South Fayette on Tuesday.
(Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
Labor shortage in the trades
SkillsUSA and 84 Lumber are working to combat a workforce trend that has been brewing for years: the gap in the number of open jobs in the skilled trades and the number of interested workers.
There could be 1.3 million job openings for trade workers annually through 2028, according to a 2020 analysis of labor market data by the nonprofit organization JFF. For each new job created annually, 15 more open up as workers change careers or retire.
About 70% of construction firms reported they had a hard time finding workers, according to a 2017 survey from the Associated General Contractors of America. More than 77% of small and medium-sized manufacturers said the same thing in a 2021 survey from the Manufacturing Institute.
Job postings for plumbers, roofers and carpenters have increased, but the positions remain unfilled for weeks, according to a March 2021 analysis from staffing agency PeopleReady.
“The message I’d like to give is you’re mapping your future in high school,” said Ken Kucera, vice president of installed sales and manufacturing at 84 Lumber. “That’s the message we’ve got to give to kids in high school. OK, what’s your plan?”
The process should include school visits and career counseling, just as students would expect if they were interested in attending a four-year college, he said.
It should treat the students and their decisions “with the respect and dignity that it deserves,” Mr. Kucera said. “These are high-paying jobs. This is not transitory work. These are very stable, lucrative careers.”
A brick mason in the Pittsburgh area makes about $26 an hour on average, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. A carpenter makes about $28 and an electrician $31. A worker who installs and repairs electrical power lines can expect $38 per hour.
Those wages are slightly higher than the national average for the same roles. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for masonry workers is $23 an hour. It is also $23 an hour for carpenters and $27 for electricians.
An October 2020 survey from the research arm of the home search platform Angi found 73% of skilled tradespeople think the worker shortage has worsened over the past five years. Unfilled positions mean companies have to turn down jobs, which in turn diminishes profits, leads to increased prices and depresses wages, the report found.
Mr. Kucera’s company, which supplies materials and manufactured components for housing and commercial buildings, is looking to hire 3,000 workers, he said.
That’s significantly more than a normal year, which would see about 1,000 new employees, he said. After a temporary shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, companies like 84 Lumber say they are seeing a boom in interest.
The home building industry overall is looking to hire 400,000 workers, he said.
Kayla Gomez, a student at Fayette County Career and Technical Institute, at a National Signing Day event at 84 Lumber and sponsored by the nonprofit SkillsUSA in South Fayette.
(Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette)
Pennsylvania’s next class of skilled workers
Before signing her letter of intent, Ms. Gomez had been training in masonry for about three years at the Fayette County Career and Technical Institute, which teaches technical skills ranging from nursing to cosmetology to graphic arts.
She had always known she wanted to work with her hands and avoid sitting in an office all day, she said. Masonry “just clicked.”
She had also been interested in welding and auto body.
Ms. Gomez joined students from hundreds of SkillsUSA schools in 27 states for the National Signing Day Tuesday — some virtual and some in person, such as the 84 Lumber event held in South Fayette. The nonprofit partnered with Klein Tools, Home Depot and NC3, the National Coalition of Certification Centers.
Training scholarships were given to 16 students. The Home Depot Foundation funded the award for six students with $30,000, while 84 Lumber contributed $50,000 for 10 Pennsylvania students.
Blade Witt, 17, from Uniontown, is planning a career in electrical construction — specifically the type of career where he restores power after homes are hit with an outage — because of the pay rate and the feeling of satisfaction that comes from helping people in need.
For Justin Yearwood, 18, from Bethlehem, the local training organization he had attended for the past three years was “really like a family.”
“Learning how to build and use my hands to create things, that really touched me, and I wanted to continue doing that,” he said.
After graduation, Ms. Gomez plans to attend a trade school or start an apprenticeship program. She is already on track to join a tile union, one of the four different areas of CTI’s masonry training. The program also teaches brick/block laying, stonework and cement finishing.
Her family has always been on board, Ms. Gomez said, but not everyone has. Some people ask how she’ll make a career in masonry as a woman.
“I was like, well, what does it matter my gender? I can go and aspire and do what I want,” she said. “Mostly the people who were going against me made me want to do it more.”
Lauren Rosenblatt: [login to see] , [login to see] .
First Published May 10, 2021, 6:15am