According to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, specialty trade contractors are expected to be one of 10 industries that will have the highest total employment change in Colorado between 2020 and 2030.
This industry encompasses occupations that are involved in building construction, and electrician employment is projected to grow the most, with an estimated employment of about 12,875 positions by the end of 2030. Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters follow at about 8,255 positions and construction laborers are next at about 6,767 positions.
But this isn’t news to those within the industry. In fact, a couple leaders have already noted the growing demand to fill positions and the limited number of applicants to do so.
Blake Nudell is the owner and president of Travis Construction Inc. in Silverthorne and is also president of the Summit County Builders Association. He’s picked up on this trend since before the pandemic and believes the situation has been exacerbated due to the “Great Resignation” — people leaving the workforce because of current events.
Yet Nudell believes that younger generations are looking for different kinds of work, too.
“Seems the younger generation are not interested in manual labor,” he wrote in an email. “Being a skilled worker isn’t as appealing as it was when I started in this industry 45-(plus) years ago.”
Right now, Nudell said he has a team of 14 full-time employees and about four part-time employees. He’s down about three to four positions, some of which are skilled positions, some are regular labor, with even entry-level positions proving difficult to fill.
“Another hard part is (that in) labor, you’ve got have them drive a vehicle around to pick up material or run to the landfill or run and help somebody, and their driving record doesn’t qualify for my insurance so they can’t work out as a laborer,” Nudell said. “That’s another challenge. If they have a couple speeding tickets on their record, then they can’t be covered by my insurance policy.”
Projects are taking longer as a result, coupled with supply-chain issues and COVID-19 protocols that also drag jobs out.
What few positions he’s tried to hire for don’t always pan out, either.
“I even had a couple people that I would say I would hire and then never showed up for the first day of work,” Nudell said. “I gave them a hard hat and a vest and got all their information, tax information, and they’re supposed to start on a Monday and never showed up.”
Paul Camillo, owner of Anthony Ryan & Associates LLC in Silverthorne,…
Read More: Summit County’s labor shortage impacts homebuilding industry