CONSTRUCTION
dation, who felt the program must go
on, because the need is urgent. “The
construction industry has a lot of baby
boomers retiring in rapid numbers,”
says Blair. “Even after COVID-19 resolves,
we’re still going to have a labor
shortage.” This exodus of boomers —
what some call a “silver tsunami” — is
a generational shift that presents the
industry with both stubborn challenges
and surprising opportunities, which the
COVID-19 pandemic accelerates.
The silver tsunami
For every five older construction
workers ready to retire, says Blair, there
is only one person with formal training
ready to take their spot. The labor
crunch is across the board. According
to a 2019 survey from the Associated
General Contractors of California, the
toughest jobs to fill were installers (71
percent said it was more difficult to fill
the position in 2019 than the previous
year), plumbers (70 percent), pipelayers
(70 percent), roofers (67 percent), and
heavy-equipment and crane operators
(67 percent). “The shortage is absolutely
industrywide. You pick it,” says Allison
Otto, executive vice president at Otto
Construction in Sacramento, which
builds primarily public works like
schools, libraries and hospitals.
The problem is twofold: Boomers are
retiring, and construction doesn’t strike
many 18-year-olds as an obvious career
choice. “Now tech is the cool new thing,”
says Katherine Bardis-Miry, cofounder
of Bardis Homes in Sacramento, adding
that 30 years ago, there simply weren’t as
many career options. “This is not exactly
the easiest industry to wake up one day
and say, ‘I’m going to be a developer!’”
Bardis-Miry says this is why you see so
many second- and third-generation construction
workers (like herself and Otto);
for many, the main way they learn about
the industry is through family.
The silver tsunami causes other
problems besides a labor gap. “When a
senior exec retires, it’s difficult to backfill
their position,” says Melanie Okoro,
CEO of Sacramento-based Eco-Alpha
Environmental and Engineering Services.
“There’s not always a transition
of knowledge, so it’s hard to retain that
knowledge and keep it within the organization.”
This can be especially vexing
in the construction industry, which has
problems that just can’t be solved by
software, apps or algorithms. Hands-on
experience matters. “There are aspects
of the industry where machines can’t
build certain parts,” says Josh Twist,
president of Sacramento-based TNT
Industrial Contractors, citing the example
of infeed and discharge fittings
for can conveyors on a manufacturing
plant, which have to be custom-made
by hand. This is a skill that was once
passed down from master to apprentice,
generation to generation. “There are not
many people around who really know
that type of work,” says Twist. “The
older generation has a lot of knowledge
with welding.” At TNT, he tries to solve
this problem by pairing the younger
workers with the old-timers.
Different generations have different
values. “It used to be, ‘My way or the
highway!’ But there has been a huge
shift,” says Otto, as millennials and
Generation Z (people born roughly
around 1995-2010) demand more of a
work-life balance. Millennials want
the flextime that allows them to pick
up their kid from school, coach their
daughter’s T-ball team or make the
PTA meeting. They want more vacation
time, more autonomy and more
of a sense that their work matters to
society. “The new generation wants
more social justice,” says Blair. “They’re
asking, ‘What is the company doing to
make the world a better place?’” They
are more likely to consider the social
impact of their projects and clients. Are
you building a hospital? Are you curing
illness? Are you building a courthouse
that will serve social justice?
The construction industry offers what
Gen Z and millennials say they want —
which includes, ideally, less crushing
student debt. “The viability of our career
path is so underappreciated in the masses,”
says Erin Volk, Associated General
Contractors of California’s vice president
of workforce and community development.
In focus groups with the parents
of high school students, AGC hears that
construction jobs are underpaid, dangerous
and lack stability. “In reality, it’s
the exact opposite,” she says, adding that
high school graduates can earn $60,000
“The construction industry has a lot
of baby boomers retiring in rapid numbers.
Even after COVID-19 resolves, we’re still
going to have a labor shortage.”
JORDAN BLAIR
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EDUCATION FOUNDATION,
SACRAMENTO REGIONAL BUILDERS EXCHANGE
to start and six figures within five years.
“Gen Z is focused on career path, stability
and community impact, and they’re
watching their Gen X parents carrying all
that college debt,” says Volk.
The mission of organizations like the
AGC of California, the Building Industry
Association and SRBX is to show Gen Z
that construction is a career path that’s
legitimate and lucrative. The AGC’s Build
California program, launched in 2019,
gives high school students tools and
resources to land a job in the industry.
The pitch isn’t subtle: Build California’s
website cuts to the quick, using large,
bold graphics to show the competitive
hourly wages: $36 per hour for cement
masons, $41 for ironworkers, $42 for
electricians and so on.
SRBX, founded in 1901, tries to shore
up the workforce pipeline with mentoring
programs, educational classes about the
trades and, perhaps most significantly,
64 comstocksmag.com | July 2020