Mutually Beneficial: Boomers and Millennials
Date Posted: June 27, 2017
Posted In: Ideas, Workforce,
From Procore: The construction industry is notorious for being slow to change, with few players willing to risk pushing the envelope to achieve levels of efficiency beyond what they’ve been content with for decades. As KPMG points out in its 2016 Global Construction Survey, “Buildings are getting taller … bridges are spanning longer, and the pace of change is such that technology projects are virtually obsolete as soon as they’re completed.” Yet, the report states, “Little innovation has happened in engineering and construction firms over the last 15 years. This has to change and [construction firms] need to drive the innovation in order to stay competitive.”
Could these challenges be solved by pushing for the adoption of cutting-edge technology for use by the entire construction team? Or by boosting collaborative problem-solving on the jobsite to find new ways to address old inefficiencies? Or even by encouraging transparency and leadership at all levels for the creation of an environment where “business as usual” is simply unacceptable?
In short, by hiring more Millennials?
For too long, Millennials had gotten a bad rap when it comes to their work ethic. But now that the construction industry is recognizing that attracting this generation is the best solution to its growing skilled labor shortage, Millennials are turning away from construction. In April, the National Association of Home Builders conducted a pollof adults ages 18 to 25 to gauge this generation’s thoughts about a career in construction trades. Of those who knew the field in which they wanted to have a career (74%), only 3% expressed interest in the construction trades.
According to the poll, young adults want nothing to do with a career in the trades because they can find less physically-demanding options in their desired pay range (48%) and they believe that construction work is difficult (32%), which … it is. But it can also be satisfying and meaningful work, and this generation has a reputation for seeking purposeful work.