By Paul Post
In the 1989 baseball classic, “Field of Dreams,” a mysterious voice tells character Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), “If you build it, they will come.”
These days, Kinsella might have a hard time finding the help he needs as a nationwide labor shortage continues to impact the building trades industry, a problem that’s especially acute in the Greater Capital Region.
“There’s not nearly enough bodies to fill the openings,” said Chris Dudley, a heavy equipment instructor at the WSWHE BOCES center in Hudson Falls. “All the big employers like DA Collins and Peckham Materials are really hurting for heavy equipment operators, truck drivers and laborers. State, county and town highway departments are reaching out to us, looking to hire kids directly out of high school. They’ve never had to do that before. Everybody’s really having issues.”
There are so few truck drivers that the state recently lowered the age for obtaining a Class A commercial drivers license from 21 to 18, allowing more young adults to drive tractor-trailers.
A recent U.S. Labor Department study says there were 7.6 million unfilled trades jobs and only 6.5 million people looking for work.
The problem stems from large numbers of Baby Boomers retiring out of the workforce, particularly during COVID, officials say. At the same time, school enrollments have steadily decreased the past few years and New York state in particular is faced with a declining population. More than 650,000 people have left for more economically friendly, warm weather states since 2020.
“The shortage has been bad for several years and is continuing to get worse as more businesses have suffered from the labor shortage post-COVID,” said Doug Ford, vice president of sales and purchasing at Ballston Spa-based Curtis Lumber Co. “It’s going to drive up costs and the building completion timeline. The biggest challenge is educating students, counselors and parents about the lucrative opportunities in trades. There are many misconceptions about our industry.”
The stereotype is one of long hours, doing physically hard work at relatively low pay. In reality, within 10 years a skilled equipment operator or electrician can make up to $100,000 per year or more, while their friends who went to a four-year college with no specific career in mind, are still paying off loans.
“A lot of kids aren’t really college-bound, but just think it’s the right thing to do,” said Nancy DeStefano, BOCES assistant superintendent for instructional programs. “We try to help them understand they can have very good careers by taking a Career & Technical Education (CTE) program and going right into the workforce, or a year or two our of trade school, with no college debt. There’s tons of building trades opportunities out there such as electrical, plumbing, HVAC, roofing, siding, concrete work and excavation.”
One union, the Niskayuna-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 236, is an apparent anomaly in the local labor shortage crisis. Assistant Business Manager Mike Martell said that all 1,600 of his union’s positions are filled with more applicants waiting in the wings.
“We have a bargaining agreement with about 100 employers in the region,” he said. “If they need manpower they call us up. We work in 13 counties, mostly Schenectady, Albany, Rensselaer and Saratoga counties. Projects are kind of all over the board. We do commercial, industrial, solar farms, wind farms, a variety of things.”
“We have our own five-year apprenticeship training program,” Martell said. “We do some high school recruiting and attend trade shows and career days. But that’s not exclusively the pool we draw from. We also get people in their 30s and 40s who maybe tried something else that didn’t work out and want a fresh start. They can get into our program and be as successful as anybody else.”
“People come here looking for a career and they’re able to find one and support their family,” he said. “They don’t have to make any payments toward healthcare or retirement. That’s all covered.”
Education and building trades leaders alike are pursuing multiple efforts to address the labor shortage.
Six years ago, Saratoga Builders Association formed a Task Force, co-chaired by Ford and fellow Curtis Lumber official Pamela Stott, with a goal of educating students and helping them make informed decisions about their industry.
The Task Force has since evolved into the nearly 50-member Capital Coalition for the Trades, with firms from several counties. It’s currently seeking non-profit status with plans to create its own board.
Specific efforts at reaching young people have included work site tours, job shadowing and trades people visiting schools to talk to young about their jobs, benefits and rewards.
“There is no quick fix to this problem, which is why we are even working with elementary students now to start the learning process much earlier, in hopes that by the time they graduate more kids will consider the trades as a viable option,” Ford said. “We have a ‘Build a Toolbox’ program. Members from the trades and Curtis Lumber employees go into the elementary schools and help kids assemble the toolbox while talking to them about all the various trades that help build a house.”
On another front, the Coalition helps school counselors learn about trades with hopes they’ll encourage more students to consider the industry. In March, 88 counselors from throughout the area attended a 2.5-hour workshop hosted by BOCES, and left with the tools needed to inform young people about trades.
Also, a Women in Trades Initiative, highlighting opportunities for female building trades workers, is just finishing up its second year. Women represent a huge untapped pool of potential employees as females account for a very small percentage of the building trades workforce.
Several dozen girls in grades eight to 10 took part in hands-on opportunities at BOCES this year to see what the industry is like, in addition to hearing from female workers who visited local middle schools and high schools.
And recruitment efforts aren’t just aimed at students.
BOCES holds twice-a-week evening classes, from six to eight weeks long, giving adults the training they need to qualify for building trades jobs, also.
“We can all do something to change the course we’re on,” Ford said. “Talking about the problem without acting solves nothing.”