OCTOBER 2024CONSTRUCTIONBUSINESSREVIEW.COM8IN MYOPINIONWORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF INDUSTRY LEADERS IN THE CONCRETE INDUSTRYBy Jacob Ables, Director of Concrete Promotion, Silvi MaterialsThe next 20 years of constructing the built environment will look nothing like the previous 20 years of constructing the built environment. The concrete industry is on the cusp of a monumental technological advancement and climate regulation shift that will touch everything. Both challenges will only be exacerbated by a rapidly aging workforce and a younger generation that is, at best, drawn to other highly skilled industries and, at worst, lethargic.Traditionally, the concrete industry has not come to mind when considering rapid change. There is a tried-and-true method to producing and interacting with the finished product. We are looking down the barrel of a 180-degree turn over the next two decades. If you doubt this, you must realize that it took 13,037 days (35.71 years) to go from Orville and Wilbur's Kitty Hawk Glider to The Heinkel He 178, the world's first jet fighter. We shouldn't underestimate how quickly the leaps happen. People reading this have been behind the same desk for a long time.Most of these challenges will be recruiting, developing, and retaining top-tier talent from the younger generations. The other challenges of navigating technological advancement and climate change/regulations are moot if we don't have enough skilled workers at all levels. This isn't isolated to the "blue collar" segments of the industry either. However, we are DOA if we can't find enough of mixer drivers, carpenters, rebar crews, and finishers. Largely, the "blue collar" issue can be solved through immigration. Mexico and the Central American countries are well equipped to fill this void. Given where they are in their economic development cycles as nations and the inherent characteristics of their cultures, those civilizations will play a major role in our industry in the coming years.As an industry, it would be wise for us to push for a comprehensive and generous immigration plan tailored to individuals from these countries who have the skills we deem essential to the industry. America's youth has decided to go another way, so we must look outside our borders. This is evident by the number of college graduates who come out of Jacob Ables
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