Calls for help like the one from Los Angeles that Justin Frese recently received asking for carpenters are becoming more and more common.
Frese, a construction technology instructor at Ozarks Technical Community College, said a contact of his with a California company put a call out for carpenters. The shortage of skilled people in the building trades has companies inside and outside of Missouri ringing up Frese multiple times a week, he says, searching for people who are good with their hands.
"They're terrified," Frese said Monday at a news conference hosted by OTC and the Associated General Contractors of Missouri — meaning there's plenty of job openings for people skilled in the ways of wood, wiring, plumbing and painting, but not enough qualified applicants.
So, contractors are partnering with the local community college to put together a program through which people can learn enough to take roles in "middle-skill construction occupations." A contingent of local officials gathered at the college in a "construction technology laboratory," or workshop, to celebrate the new student chapter of the contractors' group at OTC.
But according to a survey of Missouri contractors, 71 percent say they "are having a hard time filling some hourly craft positions."
"We really have a critical need in our industry for construction workers," said Leonard Toenjes, president of the Missouri contractors' group. " ... Undoubtedly, the need for workers is our biggest issue this year."
The survey says carpenters are among the positions contractors have the most trouble filling and notes that only 3 percent of survey respondents anticipate hiring will get easier in the next year.
Fewer than half of contractors rated the workforce development pipeline "good" or "excellent." And African-Americans, women and veterans were the top three categories of workers firms said they made "special efforts" to recruit and retain.
There is competition within the industry for workers as well, as about one-third of contractors said they were losing hourly craft workers to other construction companies in their area. To cope, about half said they either hiked pay, offered bonuses or increased benefits.
Nearly two-thirds of the contractors who responded said they "always" operated as a union shop.
The increased need comes as the building industry recovers from the recent recession, Toenjes said, adding that construction employment data has shown a steady increase since plummeting in 2009.
Rep. Crystal Quade, D-Springfield; Matt Morrow, president and CEO of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce; and Mayor Ken McClure stressed the importance of adding construction positions to the local jobs' climate.
"In Springfield, every time we see contractors working, that is a sign of economic vitality," McClure said. "That is a sign of a community on the grow."
The solution posited at Monday's event was that more opportunities should be provided to future craftspeople like those studying at OTC so businesses have a larger pool of potential applicants. This could be accomplished through expanding offerings such as Frese's classes at OTC or through private apprenticeship programs, like the one offered by Neosho-based Branco Enterprises Inc.
"I think it's absolutely imperative that industry associations and education team up," said John Branham, CEO of Branco. "That is the only way we will fill this need, and folks, the need is not going away."
http://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2017/10/02/missouri-contractors-otc-work-fill-critical-need-construction-workers/724506001/
