Joseph N. Merlino is the vice president of Pleasantville, New Jersey-based Bayshore Rebar. Opinions are the author’s own.
It’s Careers in Construction Month. As we face a massive skills shortage in the industry, it is more important now than ever to raise awareness for careers in construction.
Our young generation is not considering construction a viable career option. Regrettably, nontraditional career paths are often not presented to young people graduating high school today as a viable and lucrative alternative to college. Lack of awareness and a plan to build a pipeline of workers continues to disrupt the industry.
I was one of those kids for whom the traditional path to a desk job through an expensive four-year college career was not the most fitting or feasible option. I’m ever so grateful for the training I received as an ironworker that led to a long and satisfying career in construction and a comfortable life with a well-established rebar construction business.
In 1981, I was 15 years old when I went to help my uncle with his job for 10 days at G&H Steel Services Inc., a general contractor in Broomall, Pennsylvania. I enjoyed it so much that when I returned home to Philadelphia, I quit 10th grade and joined Iron Workers Local 405. I completed the apprenticeship program there while making a decent living.
At the end of my training, a lucrative career was waiting for me, and I did it all without accumulating college debt. I knew that the traditional four-year college route to a career that came with massive college debt would not be for me.
As an ironworker, I worked on projects building many impressive structures such as the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey. After a while, I started my own rebar construction company that flourished into the business that it is today. I have achieved more than I ever dreamed because of my training as an ironworker, which started with the registered apprenticeship program at Iron Workers Local 405.
Ripple effect
As a construction contractor with over 40 years of industry experience, I can attest to the fact that time is working against the industry and the growing project demand is dipping into a shallow pool of skilled labor. It has resulted in higher prices and longer construction schedules. Trouble finding skilled labor hurts the bottom line when companies can’t meet the growing project demand.
The ongoing labor shortage can have a ripple effect on the U.S. economy, especially in the uncertain political climate today. Funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill alone won’t fix our crumbling infrastructure.
Continued support from the new president and administration for our registered apprenticeship programs would be key in continuing to bridge the skills gap and training our future generation to build our nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
It’s time we stopped telling our youth that their only path to success is a four-year college degree. The earn-while-you-learn apprenticeship model works. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t pursued my career in construction.
Apprenticeships are a proven path to secure careers: Almost nine out of 10 apprentices are employed after completing their programs with an average starting wage above $50,000, according to the Department of Labor.
I have been fortunate to have a steady supply of skilled labor for my construction company thanks to my background as an ironworker and connection to Iron Workers Locals in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, which have excellent registered apprenticeship programs and train the next generation of skilled ironworkers.
There’s more than one path to success. We simply need to do better at promoting technical training and trades at the middle and high school levels to give them choices, so that these young people can find, and prosper, in these well-paying and fulfilling careers in construction.
