Construction Informer

There’s a huge furnace below our feet and there is a major effort underway to tap into it and generate electricity as well as supply heat directly to buildings. This industry, while still young, is gaining momentum and many people with construction skills stand to find some good paying, long-term work building it into a cornerstone of the nation’s energy policy.

According to the Geothermal Energy Association the geothermal sector is expected to add an estimated 7,000 jobs to its current base of more than 11,000 during the next five years. This includes work in the electrical generation area only. The kinds of typical construction skills needed include welders, mechanics, pipe fitters, plumbers, machinists, electricians, carpenters, construction and drilling equipment operators and excavators, surveyors, architects and designers, and HVAC technicians. Over the next 20 years that job base is expected to grow five-fold to just about 35,000.

Reno NV will host the annual Geothermal Energy Conference and Expo with pre-conference events on Oct. 4 and the main expo kicking off on Oct. 6. There is probably a good reason the expo is in Reno since all of the excellent geothermal fields, and most of the good ones, are west of the Mississippi.

There are many opportunities for people these days to connect with those in the growing green fields of employment. Besides talking directly with companies in the business there are many recruiters that specialize in green jobs. One in particular goes by that name – GreenJobs and covers all the emerging energy technologies.

The call to rethink the country’s fascination with sending everyone to college gained some support recently in a series of articles in the Summer 2008 Issues in Science and Technology. That publication is a joint endeavor by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and the University of Dallas.

The idea is that the focus on college education by the nation’s policymakers overemphasizes the four-year college degree to the detriment of things like training and experience which could actually pay off better for both the economy and individuals.

One article by Robert Lerman of the Urban Institute questions the very relevance of test scores and suggests they are emphasized too much when other factors like skills, non-cognitive skills, and occupational qualifications could be much more indicative of success in the work world.

Peter Cappelli of Wharton School maintains there is no evidence that giving people four-year degrees results in any restructuring of jobs or increased productivity and growth in the economy at large. He goes on to stress the nation would do far better to build apprenticeship programs, school-to-work programs and foster close relationships between community colleges and employers.

For the construction sector these kinds of thoughts might free-up avenues for developing new talent to fill gaps in the work force. Some questions that might start being asked could include:

• Does it really take a four year degree to manage a construction project?
• Will four years of college create a better estimator or draftsman than a specialized course?
• At what point does life experience, work experience, attitude and self-learning ability trump higher education?
• Are colleges really delivering valuable recruits to the construction sector, or are they just trading diplomas for tuition?

As the U.S. continues to face the challenges of global competition while simultaneously resisting the call to supply workers for the diverse set of tasks required within society these kinds of questions will continue to grow in numbers and complexity. Construction is one of the industries that will be on the cutting edge of this debate.

According to an informal poll on Building Design and Construction the biggest headache reported by firms was recruiting qualified professionals. Forty-three percent of those who voted said finding the right management people is their biggest challenge. Compare that to only a little over 7 percent saying finding new business was their biggest headache.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates construction managers will continue to be in demand at least through 2014 and perhaps beyond since the industry is seen by job seekers as having poor working conditions. Some of those conditions pointed out by the BLS include having to be available 24 hours a day to deal with delays, emergencies and weather that affects job sites.

None of this should be surprising since it can be tough to keep people motivated to continually deal with the kinds of issues managers and superintendents face everyday. One almost inexcusable issue has to do with incomplete or downright wrong architectural plans. Too often, mistakes in architectural plans force these front line managers to juggle people and materials to make up for poor plans. Not only that, and in the interest of expediting the change process, they then have to come up with solutions in the field, put together the necessary documentation and get it to the architects for approval before moving ahead. While all of this is done the project still needs to stay on schedule.

To help with retention and ultimately with attracting new talent, contractors could help alleviate some of the stresses placed on their managers by making sure they have a realistic workload and by allowing for backup help when unexpected things happen. One concept is to use a floating or roving manager, or manager trainee, who can be routed into troubled jobsites to help pick up the slack when needed.