Page 38 - BusinessWest October 17, 2022

and two local electrical manufacturers, Legrand and Fidelux Lighting, to provide donations to the Putnam Electrical Shop at Putnam Vocational Technical Academy in Springfield.
The Putnam Electrical Shop works on a fixed budget, and donations like this give them addi- tional supplies and equipment for student les- sons, said teacher and master electrician Charley Jackson. “I share my work experience and testi- mony with my students, and it really helps them with their desire to learn. Our recent visit from M.L. Schmitt and donation of supplies really encouraged our students to keep pushing.”
The materials that the school received include low-voltage and line-voltage training kits, a vari- ety of light fixtures, blueprints, surface raceways, disconnect switches and more. More donations are expected to take place this fall, and M.L. Schmitt has hired many Putnam graduates over the years.
“We’ve been conditioned to think you have to have a college degree to have a successful career after high school,” Crevier said. “But a lot of peo- ple struggling with college and looking at alter- nate solutions can make really good money in the trades. I know borderline geniuses who don’t have a really strong formal education behind them, but they can use their hands, and they’re virtual art- ists, interpreting visual drawings to see what the designer’s intent is. It’s a great career path.”
Mind the Gap
The workforce issue isn’t unique to electri- cians. A recent survey by Associated General Con- tractors of America (AGCA) found that, overall, construction firms are still struggling to recruit employees. Ninety-three percent of respondents
say they have open positions that they’re trying to fill, and 91% indicate they are struggling to fill at least some of these roles. This issue is particularly pronounced among craft positions, which make up the bulk of construction work on job sites.
At the same time, AGCA reported, more com- panies are waking up to the fact that the future of the construction industry lies in youth, which is why firms are increasingly taking steps to engage younger generations. Fifty-one percent of survey respondents say they’ve gotten involved in career- building programs at the high school, college, and technical-school level in order to encourage stu- dents to consider a career in construction.
It’s a task facing
serious headwinds.
Tallo, an employ-
ment and schol-
arship platform
geared toward
younger workers,
issued a report in
the spring analyz-
ing survey respons-
es from more than
29,000 high-school
and college stu-
dents about the
brands, industries, and career paths they desire. In a ranking of 22 industries, construction attract- ed the interest of just 16.7% of respondents; only forestry ranked lower. In contrast, 76.5% want to work in technology.
What those who are looking at the trades are finding, however, is opportunity. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, electrician jobs are expected to grow by 9.1% from 2020 to 2030,
higher than the 7.7% growth rate projected for all occupations. The increase in demand is largely driven by an increase in devices, buildings, and vehicles that rely on electricity; from 2021 to 2022 alone, total electricity consumption in the U.S. is expected to grow by 1.4%. Meanwhile, as noted earlier, Baby Boomers are retiring at a faster rate than members of Gen Z are choosing careers in the trades.
“I was one of those people who went to a pri- vate high school, four-year college, got a bach- elor’s degree in marketing, sat behind a desk every day, and decided it wasn’t for me and turned to the trades,” Crevier told BusinessWest. “I decided I
But a lot of people struggling with college
and looking at alternate solutions can make really good money in the trades. I know borderline geniuses who don’t have a really strong formal education behind them.
“
JEAN PIERRE CREVIER
”
was one of those visual people; I like to work with my hands, see my accomplishments at the end of the day, and be proud of what I did.”
One of his pitches to young people is that, par- ticularly for those who enter a union apprentice program, they’ll get paid to learn a career path, rather than go into debt. “Instead of investing tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, into an education, you’re actually getting paid to learn, paid in the field, as you go to night school, at least
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38 OCTOBER 17, 2022
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