Almost half of construction workers in the U.S. are nearing retirement.
“For a long time, we've had this retirement crisis looming over the industry,” said ConstructReach CEO and founder Paul Robinson.
To confront that imminent gap, the St. Louis-based company aims to provide young people with training for careers in skilled trades. It invites students to participate in hands-on activities such as electrical wiring, flooring and fixture installation, guided by skilled trade professionals as part of their “I Built This!” event series.
On Tuesday, about 60 University City High School students attended a ConstructReach workshop at Murphy Construction's warehouse facility in Olivette. More than 600 students nationwide have participated in the program.
Robinson said the students he works with are mission driven.
“They want to have a connection with the work that they do,” he said. “One of the things that we try to make sure that we are introducing is that construction is one of the few professions where you can actually see what your work contributed to, and you can actually see the fruits of that labor at the end of every single day.”
Another major goal of the workshop is to connect educators with industry leaders. Robinson said educators often field questions from students about skilled labor career paths, but educators and guidance counselors often lack the knowledge to guide them to answers and potential employers.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 1 in 10 construction workers is a woman, and that Black people are underrepresented in the industry. Robinson hopes that showing young people the steps to building their own careers in construction, electricity or plumbing will lead to greater diversity at worksites across the country.
“We're also having conversations simultaneously with employers. The industry has always paid well, but you can't just say, ‘We have 1,000 jobs open at the moment,’ and expect for the floodgates to open and people to raise their hand,” Robinson said. “You have to understand who the audience is [and] lean into some of the things that have kept certain demographics out of the industry.”
Paul Robinson joined St. Louis on the Air to discuss the challenges facing the construction industry, the job landscape for young professionals and the mission of his organization. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
