Worldwide, there’s a shortage of skilled trades workers, concludes a Manpower survey, Strategic Migration: A Short-Term Solution to the Skilled Trades Shortage. On Marketplace, Nancy Marshall Genzer interviews Manpower CEO Jeff Joerres, who says parents push their children to go college “no matter what.”
Jeff Joerres: It almost seems better to spend $30,000 and end up waiting tables after four years of college than to spend half of that and be productive and have a career in the skilled trades.
Despite the recession, which has hit construction hard, construction firms are having trouble hiring skilled plumbers, electricians and carpenters, says Clark University business professor Gary Chaison. If the economy recovers, employers may look overseas to find skilled tradesmen. The long-term solution is to offer more and better vocational programs to train Americans.
Skilled trades workers are the number one or two hiring challenge in the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Brazil, according to Manpower.
