What Can HR Do About the Skilled Trades Problem?

The skilled trades are facing an annual talent shortage of 1.3 U.S. million workers, according to a new report by labor market analytics company Lightcast. 

They include maintenance workers, carpenters, mechanics, welders, plumbers and electricians — but they also include stucco masons, paperhangers, boilermakers, quarry rock splitters, earth drillers, patternmakers, kettle operators and etchers.

And for every person currently completing a relevant training program, the skilled trades have three job openings.

“We’re dealing with a stigma that was put on the skilled trades,” said Greg Randolph, the vice president of marketing at DECKED, a manufacturer of storage and organization systems. “The irony is that skilled trades workers love their lives; they love their jobs. But we don’t respect them enough as a society, and we don’t encourage them enough as young people to enter the trades.”

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Behind the Shortage

The Lightcast report found a significant portion of the skilled labor workforce will be retiring soon (with retirements accounting for about 40% of annual U.S. job openings). Simply put, there aren’t enough new workers ready to fill those roles.

Young people often believe skilled trades are too physically difficult, and they don’t understand the financial opportunities that vocational careers can offer, said Ron Hetrick, the principal economist at Lightcast.

Equally detrimental is the reputation that continues to follow the skilled trades.

“Society runs a powerful, uninformed and negative ad campaign against non-degreed jobs, and has for several decades,” Hetrick said. “This has made most of our driven young people think that college is the only option [to gain employment].”

A Wakeup Call

Accounting for about 60% of all skilled trade jobs, Hetrick said the manufacturing and construction industries are the most impacted with this shortage, but any type of service-providing industry or organization is likely to feel the squeeze with recruiting right now.

Vocational career paths may not always appear conventional on paper from an HR standpoint, he noted. That’s where an emphasis on apprenticeships and strong mentorship programs makes a real difference.

“HR needs to look for the person behind the resume more effectively,” Hetrick said.

But in some cases, attitudes toward the trades are shifting and interest in the field is growing, said Agnes Talavera, a global vice president and senior client partner at consulting firm Korn Ferry. Changing the stigma, though, is just the start. Bridging the talent gap takes longer; therefore, HR should operate from a multi-year outlook when anticipating and addressing business needs and talent shortages.

“Developing qualified talent takes time,” Talavera said. “Demand can change overnight; skilled talent supply can’t.”

It’s also not about flipping the script and convincing students that college is the wrong path to take, Randolph emphasized. Instead, the message to those entering the workforce should be changed: The skilled trades shouldn’t be viewed as a fallback career, but an equally viable path.

“In the world of HR, culture begins with giving people a sense of purpose and value — giving them a path where they can see a chance to grow, learn and earn as they build a career with your company,” he said.

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