GOVERNMENT RELATIONS


Preparing California’s Future Construction Workforce


By Felipe Fuentes, AGC Legislative Advocate Te November 6 general election


will bring with it more than just the fate of who controls Congress. While our efforts to defeat Proposition 6 and protect our hard-fought gains for infrastructure financing have been front and center this year, the election will also set the direction for Califor- nia’s future construction workforce. With a Governorship under the control of either Democrat Gavin Newsom or Republican John Cox, the next admin- istration must contend with workforce development issues facing the Golden State. With the unexpected retirement


of Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) Director Christine Baker this past April, the next Governor will have the opportunity to permanently fill this very important position. With that appointment, the next Director will administer and enforce state laws covering workers’ compen- sation, workplace safety, wages, hours, overtime, retaliation and appren- ticeship programs. Te next Director will also be tasked with addressing several important questions facing the department and industry. Namely, how will California invest in the prepa- ration of its future workforce?


Earn As You Learn Today, most apprenticeship


programs are primarily focused on training the construction and oil refinery sector. Apprenticeship programs provide a “good deal” for those employers in need of a skilled workforce and those prospective workers who aspire to a good career. Unfortunately, not enough has been done to make careers in construction a top choice for young people.


www.AGC-CA.org Culturally, an emphasis is still


made to young people on two- and four-year degrees. Careers in construction are seen as a pathway for those who missed their first choice or as a second chance for those who have been incarcerated. In fact, most of the policy moving through the legislature focuses on apprenticeship paradigms of today and not for the careers of tomorrow. Innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence and robotics, will require policy makers to reimagine how it is we train future workforces.


Be it from the housing shortage crisis, recently enacted transportation funding, or innovation, there is a high demand for workers today and a real need for a pipeline for training workers for tomorrow.


Because of the exponential growth


in technology and innovation, many of the jobs of the future haven’t even been identified. In fact, the Institute for the Future (IFTF) estimates that 85 percent of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been invented nor classified yet. What is clear, is that the speed of technology will necessitate more apprentices and workforce devel- opment strategies to keep up with the innovative state. According to the Employment


Development Department, it is expected that careers in construction


will grow by more than 158,000 jobs between 2016-2026. In that same time frame, jobs in the trade, transportation and utilities classifications will grow by more than 200,000 jobs. Today, it is estimated that housing construction jobs number 100,000 – down from 150,000 jobs in 2006 at the peak of the homebuilding in California. All of this is to say that the supply of skilled workers in the trades is tight and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Be it from the housing shortage crisis, recently enacted transportation funding, or innovation, there is a high demand for workers today and a real need for a pipeline for training workers for tomorrow.


What Problems? Te 2007 mortgage meltdown, and


the subsequent recovery, has preoc- cupied the attention of the Legislature and Governor in stabilizing the finances of California and its residents for the past 10 years. During the same time, little attention has been paid to the future of employment – under- standable given that the unemployment rate for the state reached an all-time high at over 12 percent at the depth of the recession in 2010. Today, state-wide unemployment is at its lowest point in the past 25 years at 4.5 percent. Coming out of the Great


Recession, we have experienced a tug Continued on page 6


Associated General Contractors of California 5


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20