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My audiences have heard me say many times that they are in for an interesting life. I have told them that they will likely live to be 120 or older and that their work lives will be really interesting – not ending anywhere near the current 65 years of age. The experts have said that my son who is in his 20s will have 5-7 careers and that will be the norm. I have had 5 careers, so I might be a pioneer on this trail. No question about me living to 120 at this point, but there are changes on the horizon that might possibly extend even my life.According to Dick Pelletier at the Positive Futurist.com in his recent entry, Nanorobots: radical science in clinical trials by the 2020s; expert says, the nanorobots, (also called nanobots), are already designed and created and will likely be in clinical trials at the major healthcare institutions in the early 20s.
Reshaping the Construction Industry
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We attended a graduation dinner last week that was unique in its attendees and outstanding for the folks who participated or coached in a year-long workforce development program. The program is focused on creating the next generation of workforce for the company and for the industry.One of our sponsors, Marek Brothers Systems, a specialty subcontractor headquartered in Houston, hosted the dinner to recognize the graduates of the Workforce Development Program (WFD) and their spouses. Marek invited several owners, contractors, specialty subs and AGC Houston to witness the progress that these craftspeople of tomorrow have made
July 19, 2012
I am an SOB, that is a son of a baker. When I was a kid, the workforce in our family bakery consisted of a deaf mute, an alcoholic, my grandfather, my uncle and my dad. Together they produced about 200 loaves of bread for the Amarillo market.In the 1990s, I was talking with Arthur Baird, one of the family members of Mrs Baird’s bread and he showed me his bakery that was producing 8,000 loaves of bread an hour for the Houston region. He told me that he could not hire anyone who was not computer proficient on his bakery staff since all of the production line is now run by computers.This was an enormous change in the workforce which has rippled throughout the manufacturing sector in this country, and it is beginning to happen in the construction industry. As we face an increased demand and the building materials become more sophisticated and “greener”, the skilled workforce to build those buildings will be more in demand and, if NCCER, AGC, ABC and the unions are correct, there will be a big shortage in the mid-level skilled workforce
July 18, 2012
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency has released two new self-assessment guides for E-Verify Direct Access Users and for E-Verify Web Services Users. As stated in the documents, the purpose is to provide a checklist and guide for voluntary users of the system toDetect E-verify activities inconsistent with the E-verify ProgramDetect non-compliant activitiesResolve internally detected non-compliant activities quickly and efficientlyPromote proper E-verify use by their users
July 17, 2012
The following information was provided by Workers Defense Project (WDP), an Austin-based advocacy group for low-income workers.This evening a vigil will be held for José Lainez, a construction worker who died while building bridges between Highway 183 and Highway 290 on June 15th 2012. His family claims the cause of death was heat exhaustion. The vigil will take place outside of El Shaddai church, located across from the construction site where José worked. José is survived by his five children, two of which live in Austin: Alex and José Jr. He was 54 years old.José Lainez spent the last twelve years as a construction worker in Austin, sending most of his money home to his family in Honduras so that they could repair their home. According to his family, José was in very good health, but the heat, lack of rest breaks and lack of water at the job site led to his death. Workers Defense Project has filed numerous complaints against the company for repeated worker safety violations. Guadalupe Torres knew Don José and worked alongside him at the site where the accident occurred.
July 11, 2012
We have written about the Obama executive order requiring Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) for all Government projects in the US. Critics have labeled this as payback to the labor unions for getting out the vote for Obama in the 2008 elections. Those construction companies who are unwilling to comply and hire the unions can’t get government jobs.In Melbourne, the government of Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu has just passed a code of conduct for the construction industry just the opposite of the Obama PLA rules. According to Nigel Hadgkiss, the head of the new Construction Code Compliance Unit, the rules are meant to limit union activities, illegal strikes and work slow downs on government projects. He stated that the rules would create safer and more productive projects leading to more savings for the government.
July 11, 2012
“Even students who major in programs shown to increase earnings ... face limits on how much debt they can sanely amass. And with costs approaching $60,000 a year for many private schools and $30,000 for state schools, six-figure student loan debt is fast becoming the norm.” – Glenn Harlan Reynolds
July 09, 2012
The Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning released the June Employment figures for the US. According to the press release, “Nonfarm payroll employment continued to edge up in June (+80,000), and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2%.” According to the latest data, the construction industry added an anemic 2,000 jobs in June after a loss of 35,000 jobs in May, showing improvement on a month to month basis, but still not the numbers we are looking for to indicate that the industry has regained its footing.The new numbers indicate that unemployment in the industry is still above 13% and the numbers do not reflect much growth at all during June when construction in the country should be in high gear for the summer.
July 06, 2012
I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that we are in “crazy time”, not only in politics, but also in the construction industry. Makes me wonder whether they are linked.The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) report on the May 2012 construction job numbers show that over 50% of the 337 US Metro areas gained new jobs over the past year. That is great news for the folks working in those metro areas. At the same time, AGC reports that in the other half (48.7%) of the metro areas, jobs in the construction industry are still declining. (You can see how your Metro is doing by referring to their List of Construction Employment by Metropolitan Area or Division, May 2011-May 2012.)We recently reported that there are major shortages of skilled labor in Arizona and that there are thousands of jobs going unfilled in some other markets.
July 05, 2012
A great article in a small publication points out that employers around the Great State aren’t just anticipating a labor shortage, they’re already feeling it.Community Impact Newspaper reports that employers are already having trouble finding people for jobs like plumbing, pipefitting, electricians and machinists. At a recent meeting of business leaders with Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, a man who manufactures furniture in San Marcos put it bluntly: “I couldn’t find an employee in this town if my life depended on it.”In the article, Combs remarks on welding jobs in Texas: “Right now you can’t hire a welder. We’re about 500 to 1,000 [employees] short.”
July 05, 2012
