Trades Council Addressing Workforce Shortage
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowGetting people interested in the skilled trades, such as bricklaying, carpentry and plumbing, remains a challenge in Indiana and across the country. To help meet the high demand, the Tippecanoe Building and Construction Trades Council is once again hosting an apprenticeship expo this summer. President Stephen Snyder says the workforce shortage in the building trades has been growing for several years.
Snyder discussed the shortage and the expo in an interview on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.
“We’ve seen this cliff coming with respect to an available workforce for the 21st Century,” said Snyder. Enter COVID, which obviously happened a couple years ago, and it’s really accelerated the problem that we have in front of us, which is a skilled, trained workforce to build the factories, to pour the concrete, to build the walls, the hospitals, etc. We’re at a critical point right now in our history across the country with being able to have that workforce. So, we’ve really got to double our efforts in getting that accomplished.”
The summer expo is scheduled for June 7 through July 26.
Snyder says the expo is available for anyone interested in different career opportunities. He says the council has also worked with school systems throughout the nine-county region to develop relationships with career and technical education directors, principals and teachers to let them know what’s out there with the skilled trades apprenticeship program.
“It’s really an awesome system that’s available for anybody to go through a bona fide apprenticeship program that’s 100% paid for. You can learn a craft, a trade, be an expert in that field and really make some good money,” he said.
Snyder emphasized the high wages that can come from graduating from an apprenticeship program in the skilled trades.
“I’m a pipefitter by trade myself. I went through a program several years ago, graduated after going for five years, worked and learned while I earned money, and we make up to northward of $100,000 a year and then some. You graduate with zero college debt, a massive amount of industry recognized skills that’s in high demand. So, we just need to get in front of teachers, educators, students to let them know that there’s an option to really, really have a successful career.”
You can learn more about the expo by clicking here.
The Tippecanoe Building and Construction Trades Council covers Tippecanoe, Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Warren, Montgomery and White counties.