The skilled trades – where an emerging generation and technology intersect

Let me start this article with a question: why is the average age of the skilled trade worker around 55 years old? Every place (facility and company) I’ve visited over the years I usually have a conversation about average age, lack of experienced people, what people make coming in, what an experienced person makes working there, etc. To be sure, there is a very real skilled trades shortage we are not just in the midst of but also projected to be gripped by for the foreseeable future – of which technology will be an important part to play.

So, where are the youth and why are the skilled trades not attracting them?

Construction Industry Image

There are stigmas which exist, maligning the skilled trades with any number of disreputable slurs. Many of the stigmas are perpetuated from a very early age in academia, stifling growth in the skilled trades and saturating the degree landscape. Check out my article about the American Welding Society and the very real stigma which exists  – and how to deal with it.

The stigma doesn’t simple exist within the walls of academia, either. It’s in our homes, culture, and perpetuated by entire institutions. Hollywood is an great example of this.

You’ve seen the movies and TV shows characterizing tradesmen as ignorant, cat calling trolls. Is this a reason the youth steer clear of the trades? Is it why 51% would rather be a barista than a welder? The question is rhetorical; the answer you already know.

Additionally I’ve noted, much to my chagrin I might add, some of the stigma comes from within our own ranks of the skilled trades. A house divided cannot possibly stand.

A turning tide?

Though the statistics say the youth are opposed to entering the skilled trades I’m personally seeing a turn for the better. I’m seeing more marketing aimed at getting the truth out there. I’m seeing burgeoning interest in apprenticeship programs and there are reasons for this. The lies of having to go to college to get a good job are being seen for what they are. Technology spreading this truth coupled with a saturated college degree market have made the skilled trades more enticing. This is especially true when websites like this post about the high wage potential, the shortage in employment, and the opportunities that abound.

A history of being technologically impaired

This is how many people see the construction industry – antiquated and stone ageish

Perhaps another reason for a lack of youth is that construction in general has been known to be adverse to technology. For years we have seen companies as well as their management openly oppose technology and it’s adaptation into the workforce. The reason? The main one, and it’s understandable when you think about it, is most of those in senior management on down are uncomfortable with technology. Since the average age of the skilled trades is hovering around 55 years old, is it any wonder?

The baby boomers are retiring, however, and this is tipping the balance. People are adverse to change and since companies are essentially the people they have working for them, you can understand the connection. If those who have power are adverse to technology, the company is adverse to technology.

I’ve seen companies pay enormous amounts of money to stave off change, bringing baby boomers out of retirement, all the while saying it’s because they can’t find anyone to replace them. This is a half truth at best. I’ve been in the trades for 20 years now and I can tell you what’s really going on: companies are pushing off a need for change until they can’t anymore. We fear the unknown, don’t we?

With the baby boomers retiring at a rate of 10,000 a day, companies are having to revisit the way they not only approach employment but also technology.

An emerging generation and technology

Technology has some amazing capabilities

When companies have to replace their retiring managers, superintendents, general foremen, and all the other positions not listed, those who ascend to those jobs bring technology with them. They are better versed with change. They are fluent with technology. They know there is a better way to do things and are able to forge on with that change which is desperately needed.

*Caveat: There is a BIG difference between a better way to do things and understanding the skill some of the old timers possess. Sometimes just because it is the “new” way to do things doesn’t always mean it’s the best, either. Although an entire generation is emerging – and bringing technology with them – sometimes an old way is best. A little prudence, coupled with humility goes a long way, after all.*

Think about it for a moment: those who are entering the industry now grew up steeped in technology and they use it everywhere. Their lives are inextricably linked with it and they know it has the potential to change not just their lives but also the entire construction industry in general. How so?

Let’s look at a few of the technological advantages the construction industry has benefited from and then transition to what’s on the horizon – being ushered in with the emerging generation.

The Laser

A simple but very effective tool for so many applications

As simple as this tool seems to us now, there was a time when it was what we might consider a technological advance. What did we use before this? What tools did this make obsolete? What processes were made simpler because of the introduction of the laser level?

I’ll give you one personal example of this tool being used to help illustrate this point more clearly.

Proximity being what it is, I have routinely found myself working at NASA doing some rather intriguing and once in a lifetime jobs. One such job I was in charge of was the removal of an 80 ton motor from it’s location, rig and transport it elsewhere, dismantle it, and load it out to be rewound. Because it was a one of a kind, there was much a do about it.

This wasn’t the first time it’s been done, either. While it was out of it’s original location the last time it was done, NASA decided to map the layout with lasers to check things out and see how they were. What did they find? If they had to do lay out everything with a laser now they couldn’t have done a better job than it was originally done – with the slide rule and abacus.

Not that they used them, mind you, but essentially what they were saying is modern technology couldn’t have done a better job. So what’s the advantage of technological advancements such as the laser? Simple: it can provide the same result MUCH FASTER.

The same is true for the technology being ushered in today’s time also.

Building Information Modeling (BIM)

It’s interesting to me to know that with a push of a button we can see multiple levels of a jobsite

BIM, as the title states, is a revolutionary technology that is changing the landscape of the construction industry. BIM has the ability to really change the construction landscape for the long haul; indeed, it already has to the extent it’s been used. BIM allows an intricate view of the entire building, giving owners, engineers, construction professionals – really anyone better perspective.

Because I’m not in the design phase of the construction industry, I don’t personally see BIM used – or understand all of it’s intricacies. Instead, I’ll link to a few articles for you to check out on your own. The PMI talks about BIM here. Another article discussing the impact BIM is having on the construction industry. ENR discusses how the construction industry is changing – BIM being one of the technologies bringing that about.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of articles out on the web discussing BIM – the information is out there.

The point I wanted to make is that it IS changing the way we do things in the construction industry and it’s here to stay.

Fieldwire

With the touch of a button, real world notes can be added for everyone to see

Now on to something those in the field are more likely to encounter: Fieldwire. Fieldwire essentially is digitizing blueprints – allowing you to abandon the bundle of drawings. Instead of lugging around those drawings around the jobsite you carry around a tablet instead. Personally, I’ve always been opposed to carrying around a tablet because they are fragile and subject to theft. But I have to admit there are benefits of digitizing jobsite drawings and enabling access via technology.

Being able to note changes in REAL TIME is gold in my book. Seeing a problem and noting it right away allows for less “oops, I forgot” to happen and can prevent one of my favorite people – wasn’t me – to show up on the jobsite. With my kids at home, it seems like “wasn’t me” lives rent free with us…sheesh.

All jokes aside, the ability to not just notate something immediately is but one of the benefits here. Another is that when you go digital you reduce mistakes by using older sets of drawings. Someone might be walking around with an older set of drawings, making mistakes all the while several new revisions have come out. Sure, those revisions should be distributed but we all know what can happen, will happen – Murphy’s law.

All in all, the ability to digitize drawings – Fieldwire is but one service – is likely to gain traction over the next several years.

Drones

Drones have numerous advantages

What is there to say about drones? Do they not provide us with aerial views we otherwise would not have? What about the benefits of getting a picture of a hard to reach place, enabling faster assessments of what needs to be done – cutting cost and implementation at the same time?

Companies are using drones to help increase their marketing too; an intro video utilizing drone footage about a company’s ability to do work looks smart and stands out amongst the competition.

What is sometimes seen as a hobby can and does have real world benefits on the jobsite. And, going forward, I suspect drone usage will only increase.

Where the industry with technology goes from here

Technology is here to stay

I purposely listed the ones above because I didn’t want to dive to deep. Rather than list all of the tech I wanted to expand on the fact that a new generation is ushering it in. There is a real shift taking place in the construction industry. We are seeing more technologically savvy youth entering into the trades. We are seeing more women finding a home, too. Are we seeing the demise of the college degree? I don’t believe that’s what’s happening, here. Instead, I think the trades are finally beginning to see their due and the opportunities have largely driven this. It isn’t enough but we have to start somewhere.

Moreover, it will be the millennials who bring all this about. They may not be the only ones coming in but they will be the generation to bridge the gap. They are perfectly nestled in place with years of experience and years of time left to give the industry. They are positioned perfectly for this.

The technology will continue to increase as the years pass by, too. New technology will supplant old. New things will be created making work less strenuous, saving time, material, and money. The initial phasing in process? That will be the millennials. The following generations will, in due time, bring about other changes.

Keep an eye out for the next ten years and the technological changes that occur in the trades – it will be very interesting to see not only how fast but also the depth those changes have – and what the next several decades of skilled trades looks like.

And, for those who are uncomfortable with technology, acknowledge it, allow others to work with it as they will, and see where things go. The last thing you will want to be is a fossil that is unyielding. Harness others and their willingness to use technology for the better of us all.