Apprenticeships key in construction industry

Hands-on training can be a great alternative to a college degree as the best path to success

This Labor Day, we should honor the western world’s oldest form of occupational training — apprenticeships. By learning first-hand from an experienced tradesperson, an apprentice acquires mastery of a trade. This hands-on method equips participants with the right skills and experience to transition directly into a job. Apprenticeship programs are the answer to the construction industry’s skilled-labor shortage.

Unfortunately, there are misconceptions surrounding apprenticeship in the construction trades. Perhaps the biggest obstacle is a blue-collar image that stifles interest among young people, along with the widely held view that a college degree is the first step in entering the workforce. This thinking is misguided. College degrees do not produce the same quality of worker as intensive, on-the-job apprenticeships. Employers see a real lack of skill level from college graduates as opposed to apprenticeships where on-thejob training along with teaching the theory produces highly skilled workers. Mike Rowe, best known for the show “Dirty Jobs,” is one of the popular advocates for apprenticeship, and he works daily to challenge the belief a college degree is the only pathway to success.

The “earn while you learn” apprenticeship model is an ideal win-win for the employer and the employee. An apprentice comes out of the program with a job and virtually no college debt because the program is paid for by the employer. The employer wins because employers find apprenticeships help with retention, as workers who come up through apprenticeships see the investment their employers are making in their career and reciprocate with a greater sense of loyalty. Additionally, they are getting an employee who has been trained in world-class safety — an essential for any worker.

At Associated Builders and Contractors, we train in seven of the building trades — electrical, plumbing, carpentry, sheet metal, masonry, HVAC and laborer. Every day we see success stories; apprentices buying homes, taking care of their families, experiencing the American dream. Our apprentices see the opportunities ahead, along with a clearly defined career path in their chosen trade.

With experts predicting a growth in the construction industry that will see building returning to pre-recession levels by 2020, now is the time to train workers to fill the skilled-labor shortage being produced by retiring baby boomers.