Even in the face of COVID-19, labor remains a major problem for the construction industry. Citing a study from the Associated General Contractors of America and Autodesk, Philadelphia Business Journal reports that 80% of contractors have difficulty finding talent for craft positions that comprise the majority of the industry’s workforce.
But the General Building Contractors Association (GBCA) is taking steps in and around Philadelphia to solve this problem. “At GBCA, we’re dedicated to building a strong, local pipeline of talent,” Director of Training and Workforce Development Angela Hendrix tells the Journal. “Our future as an industry depends on it.”
For more than five years, the Journal reports, the association has worked to bring partners together from across the industry in this goal. “GBCA is addressing workforce development with a holistic, head-on approach,” Hendrix says. “From partnerships with local schools and youth groups, to hands-on training, classroom training, work-ready skills training and boots on the ground recruitment — we have created programs that set candidates up for a successful career for life.”
According to the Journal, these include apprentice-ready training programs, such as the Carpenters Apprentice Ready Program (CARP). “Through GBCA, contractors agree to sponsor our successful candidates,” said Tom Duffy, CARP coordinator of Philadelphia Carpenters J.A.C. “Even more important, these contractors will assign a mentor to these young candidates — someone they know who can teach them the right way, the safe way to do it on the job.”
