Stephen Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), has announced a new association program aimed at recruiting a more diverse pool of workers into the construction industry through vocational training that targets women and minority high school students in the U.S., according to www.constructiondive.com.
Sandherr told those gathered on the steps of New York City Hall in Manhattan that the construction industry is primarily white and male but should be more representative of the rest of the U.S. workforce.
"If the construction industry cannot find an effective way to recruit, hire and develop a more diverse workforce," Sandherr says, "we won't be able to keep pace with demand."
Critics say despite the AGC's announcement that it would help pay for high school career and technical training, the initiative could keep poor and minority students from pursuing a four-year degree, and such a program should include information regarding how to also build a business in the trades. Bertha Lewis, president of the Black Institute, told The New York Daily News the focus should be on programs that encourage—or even require—contractors to partner with minority- and women-owned businesses rather than just hiring them as subcontractors.
The New York State chapter of the AGC says all educational opportunities—including college, craft and technology training, and community college or technical institutions—can create a career path in the construction industry.
The industry reportedly will need an estimated 240,000 new trade professionals each year to keep up with the projected volume of work in the U.S.—a $600 billion annual increase.
Although previous initiatives have sought to bring more minorities and women into the construction workforce, women accounted for about 9 percent of the 2017 U.S. construction workforce; African-Americans accounted for 6.1 percent; and Asians accounted for 1.9 percent. Hispanics accounted for almost 30 percent of the construction workforce.
