Masonry Magazine May 2002 Page. 11
For several years now, the Mason Contractors Association of America has devoted one issue annually of MASONRY magazine to our industry's training and recruitment efforts, using the feature article to showcase some of the nation's best training programs. This year is no exception, but before we do that, I'd like to take this opportunity to provide a state of our industry's current efforts.
The masonry industry is still facing many obstacles in its training and recruitment efforts. One major obstacle in the way of our efforts is the image of the bricklayer and of the construction trades in general. Today's young people are being steered away from careers in construction by their guidance counselors, their parents and their peers. It is no longer "popular" to work in construction. It is seen as dirty and much harder than those career paths that follow a college education.
Unfortunately, even if we are able to spark someone's interest in the trade, they are faced with obstacles of their own. Where can they go to get trained? The MCAA gets emails, phone calls and letters on a daily basis from people interested in becoming a bricklayer, but they don't know of any training programs in their area. This would not be such a tragedy if these letters were coming from people in outlying areas where there were no programs, but actually, many of these letters come from people who live near major masonry training programs. These letters come from New York, North Carolina, Florida, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington state. It's nationwide and the list could go on and on. Why aren't they aware these programs exist? Obviously, we have not been diligent in marketing what's available.
Now, we've got someone who's interested and has found a training program, problem solved, right? Wrong! Before this person can get adequately trained, he needs to be hired by a mason contractor. One would think that this would be the easiest step, but the truth is, many mason contractors won't hire apprentices. I've heard many excuses: it's too expensive, it's too time consuming, I need someone who can give me journeyman output today, he's just going to work for another contractor for five cents more an hour once he's trained anyway. Unfortunately, this type of short-sighted vision is all too common.
Even if this apprentice is fortunate enough to find a contractor to hire him, he may still not be adequately trained. Due to labor shortages in other areas, many apprentices find themselves working as laborers just as often as they're on the wall or no one's available to "show him the ropes" when he actually is on the wall. Also, as an industry, we often overlook those people who are training the apprentices. Are the masonry instructors in your area being kept up-to-date on the latest industry standards and techniques? It's difficult for them to provide adequate training to our newest employees if they don't have adequate training themselves.
Obviously, we, as an industry, have a long way to go if we are going to solve our workforce problems. We've stood around too long and waited for someone else to take care of this for us. It's time we took action. What can we do?
Contractors need to take the lead. A good training and recruitment program can not survive without mason contractors to support it. Suppliers and schools can start programs but unless the local contractors are willing to hire and train apprentices, there simply is no point. All of their time and effort will ultimately be wasted. Every mason contractor needs to make a commitment to developing our future workforce by supporting their local programs and by starting new programs where none exist.
Advertise the opportunities our industry has to offer. Go to local junior high and high schools to promote careers in masonry. Participate in career days and career fairs. Advertise your training program in the newspaper, on the radio, even on a local cable channel or highway billboards. Get the word out!
Develop a national curriculum. A training program is only as good as the materials it uses to train. When were the books published? Are they kept current? Do they cover all the materials adequately?