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Robinson Construction Company is pleased to announce the recent addition of a new employee at their office in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

Mike Huffman has joined Robinson Construction as a project manager. In this role, Mike is responsible for overall management and administration of assigned projects, from budget and scheduling to production and completion. Mike is from Englewood, Ohio and has worked in the construction industry for 27 years. His project experience includes site development and commercial buildings in the municipal, education, manufacturing, healthcare, retail, fuel systems, and food service sectors. Prior to joining Robinson, Mike worked for The Ideal Company Inc. as an estimator/project manager building restaurants across the country for a major family style chain.

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Construction work is in high demand. Projects are growing in size and complexity and the need for experienced people who work hands-on to bring the projects to life is at an all-time high. However, according to a recent survey by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), approximately 70 percent of construction firms report that they are currently having difficulty finding qualified construction workers even though there appears to be plenty of workers out there looking for jobs. So what happened to the skilled labor? Where did it go?

With construction spending up, the demand for skilled craftspeople is expected to continue to grow. CNBC reported earlier this year that construction spending was up to a record $1 trillion last November and that construction firms are adding jobs, but workers are leaving the industry, or aging out, but that is not the only reason behind the lack of skilled workers. According to Robinson President Paul Findlay, “more and more individuals are entering retirement age and greater than one-fifth of the construction workforce is currently 55 years or older. It’s this, coupled with fewer high school students expressing an interest in skilled work, that has created a shortage of skilled craftspeople.” Over the past few decades, the tendency has been to steer high school graduates to four-year colleges and white-collar careers, creating a whole generation of younger workers who are no longer even considering construction as a possible career option, despite the obvious need and respectable rate of pay. In the AGC report release, Ken Simonson, AGC chief economist, stated, “Construction pay is now almost 10 percent higher than the private-sector average. Nevertheless, contractors report increasing difficulty filling many types of hourly craft and salaried openings.”

It is obvious the need for skilled labor is abundant, but it is becoming harder to hire and recruit qualified workers. So how do we fill the gap?

According to Robinson Human Resources Manager Tara Gremminger, filling the gap takes a concentrated effort. “One of our greatest challenges is attracting young people and skilled workers. High schools are stressing attending college over a career in the trades, but a college education is not for everyone.” Tara feels encouraging young students to look at career options in construction is the first step. “Many high school students are not ready or don’t want to go to a four-year college, but with the ‘college for all’ mentality that is prevalent in high schools nowadays, it is hard to convince them that they do not necessarily need a four-year degree to be successful in life. There is a multitude of rewarding career opportunities available in the industry that do not require a college education.”

Tara believes that the second step to overcoming this challenge is for more construction companies to offer workforce development programs. “The problem isn’t that there are no jobs. There is a mismatch between job requirements and workers’ skills. You do need a basic level of training to enter the construction industry and with the shortage of technically skilled workers in the US, we are now starting to see more companies offer workforce development programs, or trade programs with paid training and apprenticeship.” Robinson Construction offers both.

“We’ve recently started an apprenticeship program in which we hire unskilled workers and train them on the job to develop the skills that we need from our workforce,” said Tara. In some instances, businesses are teaming up to train workers. Robinson works closely with Ranken Technical College on a two-year internship program for welding. According to Tara, “the internship program with Ranken provides the student with several weeks of classroom learning, followed by several weeks of a paid internship at Robinson Construction. The students are being paid while they learn and taking away the skills needed to have a long and rewarding career in the construction industry. It is a win-win situation.” To further their outreach, Robinson also has also formed relationships with the area vocational schools.

“No matter how you look at it, the construction industry offers honorable, rewarding careers for a variety of technical skill sets,” said Tara. “We just need to let more students know about these programs and encourage them to choose the skilled training path.” .

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Robinson Construction Company is pleased to announce the recent addition of a new employee at their main office in Perryville, Missouri.

Stacy Langston has joined Robinson Construction as a project manager. In this role, Stacy is responsible for planning, resource allocation, staff management, and budget management for all projects assigned to him. Stacy is from Jackson, Missouri and has over 15 years of construction experience starting as a laborer and working his way up to Project Management. Prior to joining Robinson Construction, Stacy worked for BCI Construction USA and was and Active Duty Marine and Army Reservist.

 

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