The shortage of tradespeople in the construction industry has worsened across the country, according to a recent G & M article. It’s just as much a concern as inflation, supply chain disruptions and cost uncertainty.
Cancelled projects, costly delays, higher contractor pricing and trades now hiring inexperienced workers to keep up. It’s all going haywire.
The reason? BuildForce, a national industry-led organization, says about 257,100 construction workers will retire by 2029 across Canada and there’s also a decline in apprenticeship enrolment in trades in general.
According to Forbes magazine, 4 key challenges facing skilled trade industries are: exposure (not enough early promotion); financial stability (misconceptions about pay); accessibility (aversion to manual labour); and gender equality (perception that it’s a better fit for men than women).
Solutions? Government involvement, more marketing efforts, more funding for training, an immigration strategy to increase tradespeople and outreach to under-represented groups including women, First Nations and new Canadians.
Skilled labour has progressed in many ways, including tech advancements. Growing our next generation of workers means getting them to see the full picture early.
