Have you ever seen a home being built and noticed the trade workers? When I have a variety of things cross my mind, such as, that looks like hard work, what he’s carrying looks heavy, that could be dangerous, they must be dying in the heat, or there is no laundry detergent for that… and, the list goes on.
But what didn’t cross my mind were some critical points—those pros are paid well, love their jobs, and could very well have better job satisfaction than I do here in my clean, temperature-controlled office.
These are important points to highlight since the construction industry has more than 200,000 open jobs and needs 300,000 additional skilled workers annually to build just 100,000 more homes, according to the president of Home Builders Institute (HBI), Ed Brady.
Misconceptions of trade work mean that fewer people are interested, and at the same time, turnover and retirements are shrinking the existing labor force. The trades are often seen as dirty, dangerous, dead-end jobs. This recent New York Times piece highlights some of the harsh realities along with the misperceptions.
The defunding of high school shop classes was fueled by parents and counselors that want to keep students away from construction careers, even though there is strong earnings potential along with business ownership opportunities.
Kevin O’Connor, host of HGTV’s This Old House, is taking it on as his personal mission to get more young blood into the industry.
“There are millions of young men not looking for work, sitting on the sidelines,” he said. “There also are millions of underemployed college graduates dissatisfied with job prospects. So, maybe we have enough labor but it’s just inaccessible to construction because of the industry’s reputation problem.”
Much of the industry is now operating on an aging workforce that holds legacy knowledge, but they are ready to retire, and while they are ready to pass along their wealth of knowledge, no one is eagerly lining up to receive it.
“The desire to pass down skills and knowledge isn’t the issue; the real challenge is finding someone to receive it,” O’Connor said. “Without enough younger workers willing to step in, decades of experience risk being lost rather than transferred.”
At the same time these labor shortages are peaking, we are in desperate need of housing and remodeling activity is rising. Data from the home improvement website Angi reports that 67% people said they would rather renovate than move, which is one reason remodeling activity is growing.
“We need to make sure we have a good quality pool of people who want to engage in the trades because the world of us not building new and caring for existing homes doesn’t exist,” said Angie Hicks, founder at Angi. “We need talented, skilled people to do that.”
To underscore her point, a survey from Angi shows that there is not only plenty of opportunity in the trades, but a lot of upside. This 2024 survey was conducted online by Angi.com and Pollfish of 800 Gen Z individuals–400 who are in the trades, and 400 400 with a college degree working in fields outside of the trades to explore how the two journeys compare.
Trade Work Offers Fulfillment
Ian Sears is president at Fig Tree Homes based in Sanger, TX, a path he followed after first getting a college degree.
“I love it, it’s rewarding,” he said. “I feel like I’m fulfilling my calling. My worst day at Fig Tree still far exceeds my best days in commercial construction in the rat race. I hear from friends who are working for ‘the man’ and they don’t have that.”
Just like any job, there are challenges, which should not be ignored, but Sears and his trade pro peers believe it’s all worth it.
For instance, there is the physical aspect of the job—it can be very physically demanding.
“Roofing a house is hard work, we shouldn’t sugarcoat it,” Hicks admits. “But, there are parts of every job that aren’t great.”
Yet all the negatives of trade work seem to be balanced with a strong sense of accomplishment, workmanship, and the pride in a job done well.
The Angi survey shared that one-third of Gen Z pros always feel a sense of accomplishment from their work, compared to 24% of college grads. That sense of accomplishment comes from the tangible, hands-on nature of trade work, which most desk jobs can’t offer.
The survey results also showed that 70% of trade pros were excited to take on and enjoyed daily tasks, compared to 66% of those in other fields. Plus, while any number would be too high, only 21% of Gen Z trade pros report negative impacts to mental health from their job, compared to 37% of college graduates.
This underscores the shift in how career success is now being defined by younger generations, who tend to focus on flexibility, autonomy, and job satisfaction instead of college degrees and moving up the ladder.
Trade Work Offers Business Benefits
Most people in the trades have an entrepreneurial spirit and have become business owners, which is one of the most attractive aspects of being in the trades.
Sears meets that profile. He said he always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and started his first landscaping business at age 14, and later starting his own home building company just like his dad.
“My dad was a business owner as well, which takes more than construction knowledge and ability,” he said. “You have to have a business sense to embrace and understand how to make it all work.”
With the responsibilities of owning a business comes great freedom too, which contributes to the high job satisfaction scores. According to Angi’s survey, 74% of Gen Z trade pros feel the freedom to choose projects, but only 67% of college graduates feel they can exercise that same freedom. The survey also found that 74% of Gen Z trade pros feel autonomous in their roles, compared to just 67% of their college-educated peers.
Money’s Rich In Trade Work
While job satisfaction is great, the critical aspect of any job is to make a living, to pay for food, shelter, and all of life’s necessities.
In most cases, trade work means earning money sooner because it doesn’t require a college degree, so college debt isn’t already piled up when the work starts.
“We live in a society of instant gratification,” Sears said. “For me, I came out of four years of college with what I thought was worth something, and started making a small salary. Now, kids come out of college and want an instant return. We need to show the potential trajectory, where you start and where you can head with salary. Not make the trades look glamorous, because it’s not, but kids don’t understand the potential.”
The Angi survey speaks to that potential. For example, 70% of Gen Z trade professionals believe their job provides enough income to support their lifestyle, higher than the 62% of college grads who feel the same. While there is a common perception that trade work doesn’t pay as well, many trade pros earn competitive salaries and avoid the downsides of other careers.
The trade path allows young people to start earning earlier, avoid student loans, and achieve financial independence sooner even when there is a degree involved. Only 47% of Gen Z pros with student loans expect to be paying them off for more than three years. In contrast, 54% of college grads anticipate a longer financial burden.
“In society, we have become so fixated on going to college—we even made high school about the college acceptance rate,” Hicks said. “We need to look at the success rate, not college acceptance.”
O’Connor is presenting to schools around the country to rebalance priorities, showing students that all work is valuable, regardless of the color of the collar.
“For every dollar this country spends supporting apprenticeship programs, it spends a thousand dollars supporting higher education,” he said. “Is it any surprise young people flock to college and shun the trades? Or that as a country we overvalue a four-year degree and undervalue a two-year apprenticeship? Higher education is great, but so are skills and careers in the trades.”
Hicks points out that getting exposed to trades at a young age historically was important, but many pros join later in life now to pursue a long held dream.
Which is exactly what an Angi council member did–he had a corporate job, renovated his house and decided to start a new career in the trades as his second act.
“He told me that his only regret is that he didn’t do it sooner,” Hicks said. “We need to capture those with a passion for the industry and help them choose the trades earlier. It’s about exposure and understanding.”
This will not be a light lift.
“These are problems a generation in the making, and it will take decades to reverse course,” O’Connor said. “For fifty years the country pursued a college-first approach to public policy, which was well intentioned but overshot its mark and left us with a severe skills gap.”
Tech Impact On Trade Work
As new technology enters into the field, it’s reducing the pressures on the worker shortage and making the current work less taxing.
Sears uses the online construction project management platform Buildxact to manage his business, making it easier to be a small business owner and helping him be more efficient with operations.
“If we can get one master plumber to do more work because he has better tools and technology, it can help fill the gap that we used to have to fill completely with labor,” Hicks said. “We have watched how technology has played a role in the mechanics of a home, shifting to much more computer-based versus mechanical in the evolution of home systems. It opens a new segment of people that can enter the trades – there is need for programmers, computer science engineers, that can all help balance the demand for labor.”
O’Connor is advocating to make the work less physical and more mental.
“We should embrace technology at all levels,” he said. “Construction lags agricultural, manufacturing, retail, and the broader economy when it comes to productivity growth by wide margins. Construction is dominated by small companies overly reliant on building by hand, piece by piece, and on site. This reduces productivity, stifles innovation, and inhibits talent recruitment.”
He also says technology is and will be the key to bring more young blood into the industry.
“On survey after survey young people ask for more exposure to technology and less exposure to hard, physical labor,” he said. “They are also looking for professional advancement, mentorship, and skill building. Let’s make the job site less about how much you can carry and more about how much you contribute.”
Technology also can be a tool to integrate skill training into the job.
“Productivity, growth, and wealth creation are always the byproduct when work becomes more mental and less physical,” O’Connor said.
Even though new tools are being introduced to the industry, the fact remains that homeowners have certain expectations. They expect contractors to be caring, understanding, and dependable.
The relationship between the contractor and homeowner is important because their home is their largest investment. Pros need to be cognizant of that and use technologies and tools to communicate effectively and to create trust-based relationship.
“Whoever drives the technology has to make sure it is done right, and it doesn’t take away the human element,” Hicks added.
New Trade Paths Forward
“The Federal Policy Opportunities to Expand Housing Supply” report from HousingTech, Housing Innovation Alliance and the George Washington University Center for Real Estate Studies, offered ways that the government can support future development of the trades with insights from HBI’s Brady; Branka Minic, the CEO at Building Talent Foundation; and Laura Arce, senior vice president at UnidosUS.
As mentioned above, a renovation of the perception of trade work is a start, and could be supported by federal programs, such as an increase in funding for Job Corps and Perkins Grants. Brady suggested giving Community Reinvestment Act credit for corporate investments in training and workforce development—not just physical development.
The government also could create tax credits or homeownership incentives for those involved in the trades. Minic proposed a “trade loan” or VA-style benefit for workers who spend a set number of years in construction, rewarding them with favorable mortgage access.
Everyone on the panel agreed that there is an opportunity to incentivize career and technical education enrollment and expand those programs. The government also could incentivize school counselors to direct students toward construction careers on par with college pathways.
“The death of shop class was the moment that hurt recruiting,” Hicks added. “We need to reinvent what that is with programming that allows you to get exposed to the trades early in life. And also encourage exploration of jobs in the summertime when young people need work. Apprenticeships in and of themselves are great because you can learn on the job and it’s something you can take anywhere.”
Immigration remains important to the trades and Arce says policymakers should support immigration reform, such as the Dignity Act, to fill workforce shortages. She also encourages sustainable funding for training programs for underserved populations that not only boost labor supply, but also promote equity.
Many federal administration policies are stunting the homebuilding industry that is dependent on a steady stream of trade workers. Today’s market conditions and escalating college costs may open more minds to trade opportunities that also can offer a better way of life.
Read the full article here
