COVID-19 Causes Ongoing Skilled Trades Shortage

According to the Manufacturing Institute, the manufacturing labor force was older and aging faster than the rest of the workforce, even before the pandemic. This suggests that many people are aging out of the trades, but fewer are replacing them.

Informally, Upton found by polling his community of tiling pros that the vast majority of them had worked in the industry for over 20 years.

Vocational education has existed for more than a century and is trending toward more advanced technology. But people entering the workforce aren’t always exposed to the value of a skilled trades education.

Will LaRue is a business development officer at metal manufacturer TFC, Inc. and one of the relatively rare Gen-Z-ers in manufacturing. He had a wake-up call on a business trip when he looked around and realized he was the youngest person in the room — by far.

"The next youngest person was 45, and after that, 60," LaRue said. "It kind of dawned on me that there’s no exposure. I hardly ever see anyone at colleges, universities, or high schools."

LaRue makes it his mission to be visible at job fairs and career fairs, to share terminology about the trades with students who don’t otherwise get exposure.

A Mercer Talent Trends study found that in 2018, more than half of manufacturing employees desired to have more flexibility in their job. But less than one in 10 HR leaders said flexibility was visible in their company.

In light of the pandemic, that may be changing. For example, LaRue’s company instituted a compressed workweek, so workers get four-day weekends. Other examples of flexibility include flexible PTO policies and split shifts.

"Every young recruit I’ve talked to wants to know exactly how they can advance. And if you can’t communicate how they are going to advance, they aren’t interested." LaRue explained, "Because they are choosing going to work versus college and other options they have."

Even if a company can’t offer immediate promotion, forward-thinking companies are finding ways to cross-train their employees, such as offering free training in robotics. Through cross-training, employees can diversify their skill sets, feel more accomplished at their job, and prepare for the future of the trades.

As it stands, jobs in the skilled trades don’t represent the diversity of the country. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 59% of active federal trades apprentices self-identified as white, 26% Hispanic, almost 10% as Black or African American, and under 2% as Asian. Just 9% were women.

Some industry trade associations are directing funds and starting programs aiming to recruit more women into the trades workforce, but there is much more work to be done.

LaRue pointed out that people with disabilities have also been overlooked for trades jobs, but that hasn’t stopped his company from hiring and training employees who are deaf.

LaRue’s company, the Precision Metal Forming Association, and other organizations train people with employment barriers such as felony convictions to learn valuable trade skills and get good-paying jobs.

Increasing pay is easier said than done for employers struggling with lean teams and a strained supply chain. They also feel responsible for paying their loyal employees fairly if newcomers are making sign-on bonuses.

Even so, Upton has a sense that wages will rise in the skilled trades. He said, "The wages have already gone up quite a bit, and I think they’re going up more."