Holley’s Story: From Robotics to Welding
Holley Thomas competed in the 2013 National Craft Championships in Welding-Pipe. She got into construction after taking a welding class at college. When she completed her robotics degree, she stuck around to get her certificate in welding. Find out why she loves her job.
New Thinking Won’t End the Skills Gap – Training Will
“We don’t have a skills gap. We have a thinking gap,” writes Lou Adler in an article for the Business Insider, “Close The Skills Gap By Throwing Out Job Descriptions.” Adler, CEO and founder of The Adler Group, a training and search firm that helps companies implement performance-based hiring, argues that the skills gap can be […]
Is the Skills Gap Real?
Absolutely, says Dr. Bill R. Path, president of Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology. Using the basic supply and demand model, Path lays out two scenarios in an article on the Huffington Post, where college graduates are the commodity, employers are the consumers and colleges are the suppliers: Scenario A: If demand for college graduates […]
Louisiana Students Choose Their Education Path
Louisiana has launched a pilot program, Course Choice, that allows students access to hundreds of in-person and online academic and career education courses often not available in traditional schools, ranging from college prep classes to welding and electrical training. More than 2,000 students already are enrolled in the program and the waitlist has grown to […]
Plumbing v. Harvard: Why Craft Training Beats College
Are you better off going to Harvard or joining a construction craft training or apprenticeship program and becoming a plumber? New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is betting on plumbers. According to a May article from MSN Money Bloomberg answered a question during his weekly radio address: “Compare a plumber to going to Harvard College; […]
2 Million Workers Short by 2017
The construction industry is facing a skilled worker shortage of 2 million by 2017, according to the spring Construction Labor Market Analyzer Report. Industrial contractors in the oil and gas industry will be particularly as new technologies and rapid expansion will put a high demand on skilled trades like welding and pipefitting – especially in […]
Iowa’s Skilled Worker Shortage
Nationwide, construction spending has seen an average annual increase of about 10 percent for the past two years, while employment has only increased an average of 2 percent each year. Together, these numbers mean that some areas of the country already are experiencing a skilled worker shortage – including Iowa. Iowa can expect to see […]
Middle School Students Get a Head Start on Craft Training
If construction craft trainees get to learn while they work, why not younger potential skilled workers, as well? As part of the 2011 Spirit of Construction Foundation’s Construction Club, a group of 18 Cincinnati-area middle school students got a taste of what it takes to be skilled construction craftsmen, all while building something that would […]
Craft Instructor of the Year Helps Students Excel
Most of us can remember at least one favorite teacher that helped make learning fun and relevant. For construction craft trainees at the Cianbro Institute, Pittsfield, Maine, that teacher might very well be Anthony Ayotte. Anthony recently was named Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Craft Instructor of the Year. If you listen to Edward LePage, […]
