web-based training session summary
CURT web-based training is designed to provide an understanding of critical work processes. Visit the web-based training page to view a list of the training sessions currently scheduled.
confronting the skilled construction workforce shortage
Major users of construction services agree that a growing gap between demand and supply of skilled construction labor is a major problem facing the construction industry. Predictions of shortages of skilled workers began in the late 1980s, when the United States Department of Labor issued its Workforce 2000 Study. By the mid-to-late 1990s, these shortages were a reality and fast becoming a serious problem. In a 1996 survey, the Business Roundtable found that over 60 percent of its members experienced shortages of skilled workers serious enough to affect project costs and schedule performance.
Owners must take the lead on driving training and education. The most effective and long-lasting changes in the industry are changes that are supported and encouraged by the owner community. Owners also need to be actively involved in efforts to improve the image of the construction industry and to recruit and retain workers.
In many areas of the country, owners have formed local user councils that function as forums through which contractors, engineers, and the local owner community can address local issues affecting construction cost effectiveness.
Construction owners, contractors, and labor organizations have been debating the issue of craft worker shortages for at least a decade, but have never made a collaborative effort to really affect a change. Now companies are experiencing significant problems in staffing construction projects, resulting in escalating costs and schedule delays. Current workforce shortages result from changes in demographics, a poor image of the construction industry and of construction workers, and insufficient craft training and career development.
The construction industry as a whole must address these critical issues now to prevent them from escalating further. The action items outlined here would be a start toward expanding the skilled craft workforce enough to meet current and future needs. To accomplish this goal, though, owners, contractors, and labor will all need to be active participants in the solution, not merely bystanders.
