There’s good news for Colorado job-seekers – if they’re willing to get sweaty doing some old-fashioned manual labor.
The Associated General Contractors of Colorado, the state’s construction oversight board, says that within the next 6 years, Colorado will need 30 thousand more construction workers than it has today. That might be a tough order to fill considering that in 2011, the industry was short by 64 thousand employees. The recession of 2008 pushed many construction workers out of the field and into other professions. In the nearly 10 years since, the industry has recovered to at least some degree, but is still currently 10 thousand workers short, and the demand only continues to grow.
The AGC has committed $2 million over the next two years aimed at encouraging new recruits to make construction their careers, and is currently lobbying some school districts to bring back shop classes in middle and high schools. In addition to the AGC’s efforts, the Colorado Homebuilding Academy offers free eight-week courses to 30 students who are interested in going into construction.
