“It’s a ‘which comes first: the chicken or the egg’ issue.” That is how Pete Dawson, Senior Vice President of Facilities Services for Texas Children’s Hospital, expressed his thoughts as an owner working to advance the principles of the Construction Career Collaborative (C3). The dilemma for the owner, according to Mr. Dawson, is accepting the need to pay more now for a skilled workforce that will only be available in the future. However, most agree that the young men and women who decide to forego college are not likely to choose an industry that might have a job for them, but not a career.Mr. Dawson said he certainly understands the owner’s concern about higher costs with minimal short-term results. But he added, “I tell them to think about the cost to your project five to ten years from now due to the low productivity and missed schedules of an untrained workforce.
In the past several weeks, I have been asked by local media to comment on the labor shortage in the commercial construction industry and how it is impacting the consumer. Most people in our industry know the obvious answers: the consumer is experiencing higher costs for a less-skilled workforce. Currently, the pool of qualified craft workers is extremely limited in our area.However, the opportunity side of this shortage is equally obvious. Legislators have come to realize that college is not for everyone – particularly the high cost of higher education and the associated debts that make it harder to afford. High schools are realizing the importance of “career ready” as opposed to only “college ready”. Owners are beginning to understand that they should be more in control of procuring the level of worker they want and need on their projects. Contractors are beginning to realize that to build what is anticipated to be required in the next twenty years, a “sustainable workforce” is more than just words.
May 21, 2013
On Wednesday, May 15, 2013 the AGC Annual Safety Stand Down was held on commercial construction projects throughout the Greater Houston area. It was a day dedicated to emphasizing the importance of each construction worker returning home safely every day. I was fortunate to participate in two separate events.With the impressive ExxonMobil construction project in the background, David Doucet, Mark Briggs (Area Directors for the North and South Occupational Safety and Health Administration offices, respectively) and I met that morning to sign a Safety Training Alliance agreement, an agreement that reinforces the need for a safety first work environment. Located on 385 acres, the giant jobsite will be completed in 2015 to become the company’s largest worldwide
May 16, 2013
This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to listen in on approximately 4½ hours of testimony on workforce training programs in Texas. The hearing was held by the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce who have been charged to study whether such workforce training programs currently meet business and worker needs in Texas. On the whole, the discussion was positive because there was a definite recognition by all presenters, as well as by the members of the committee, of the need to focus more on “career ready” as opposed to only “college ready” students. It seems there is a wide variety of career opportunities available to high school graduates with the proper skills training.
April 12, 2012
Last week Indiana became the 23rd state to become a “right to work” state. Congratulations to Governor Daniels and the people of Indiana. Every business should have the right to go to market the way they so choose. However, I could not help but sympathize a little when I read of some the opponents’ concern of a “downward spiral” as far as it related to the workforce. After all, we only have to look at the current Texas market in regards to the quality of the commercial workforce: aging, less and less skilled, and more and more piecework.But it really does not have to be that way. With the advent of the Construction Career Collaborative (C3), there is now not only a vehicle to
February 06, 2012
Jerry Nevlud, President/CEO of the Houston Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America, recently offered the following remarks about The 2011 U.S. Construction Industry Talent Development Report by FMI, a management consulting and investment banking firm for the engineering and construction industry.There is plenty of good information in the recently released survey by FMI on talent development in the construction industry. As stated in the report’s introduction, FMI has polled US construction firms for over 15 years in order to determine current practices and emerging trends in training and workforce development throughout the construction industry.It is critical that companies develop and improve strategies that will ensure our industry continues to find and retain the best talent. Unfortunately, what is desperately missing is the same focus on talent development that would ensure a sustainable craft workforce well into the future.
November 22, 2011
According to an article in the July-August 2010 issue of Design-Build Dateline, even though construction firms tend to adopt new ideas and methods a bit slowly, Lean construction...
July 22, 2010
