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Demand for trade labor still high after C19
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · April 10, 2024
“High demand” and “immediate” needs for trade workers prompted unions to increase starting salaries and boost benefits.
So when West Branch High School students on March 6 visited the Cedar County Career Fair, they found plumbers offering $17.58 an hour, carpenters offering $27.14 per hour, bricklayers offering $33.75 per hour, and electricians offering $39.07 per hour.
Add health insurance and other benefits and total packages can add the equivalent of another $20 or more per hour.
“We have an immediate need,” Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union 25 instructor Tim Lievens said. “We have trillions of dollars of work on the books right now.”
United States-based companies are bringing back microchip plants from China and building new electric vehicle plants here, causing a greater demand for workers. Plumbers top the list, with HVAC workers second and fitters/welders coming in third.
Lievens said that if trade industries learned anything from the coronavirus pandemic, construction work would stop but HVAC workers would remain employed and active on maintenance work.
High school students could begin as apprentices and work in the region, but after five years, they “could go anywhere in the country” and never run out of work, he said.
John DeLany, a trainer for the Carpenters Training Institute, said the union faces high demand.
“We need help,” he said, noting that all 118 of the union’s apprentices are currently working somewhere. “That hasn’t happened in years.”
The carpenters used to pay 60 percent of a journeyman’s wages. Now that’s up to 70 percent “to make it more attractive,” he said.
DeLany said that since high school students are usually single, childless and healthy, benefits are far less attractive than starting salaries.
He’s right. When this reporter stopped students and asked them what they most want to know, salaries, job openings, and career paths were the top three concerns.
DeLany said that when he asks students “How much do you need to live on?” most do not have an answer.
He said carpenters use a lot of math, algebra, and geometry in practical ways, which surprises some of the students.
DeLany said talking to students suggests they are more responsible with their money following the 2008-09 recession and current inflation rates that are forcing parents to be more careful with their money.
“Times are changing,” he said. “Only 25 percent of occupations need a four-year degree and 60 percent of jobs are in trades. Why would we push kids to develop that debt?”
Iowa Laborers’ Training and Education’s Dan Ness said the construction industry “has its hands in everything.”
“We’re first on the job and last on the job on any project,” he said, so “we’re in very bad need (of workers.”
That covers every field under construction, Ness said, and solar farms are keeping the union busiest right now.
The ILTE has 70 apprentices at the moment and all of them are currently working on the job.
Some projects are still on hold after the coronavirus pandemic, with many projects building infrastructure, especially for energy needs.
Ness said the Inflation Reduction Act forced companies to move projects back to the United States.
Joey Purpura, also with ILTE, said apprentices typically get sent to new construction projects. Right now the union is supplying workers to roads, the University of Iowa, Steindler Orthopedic Clinic, a parking ramp, an airport terminal, and a solar farm.
“We want you to find a home” with a construction company, he said.
Ironworkers 89 representative Joe Delaney said that the union has a “high demand” for certified workers.
The union typically runs one first-year apprenticeship class, but the ironworkers created a second because they are seeing a better response than in past years. However, that has not caught up to the work.
Welders are the most prevalent job in ironworking, he said, and jobs send them to work on precast, equipment installation, grain bin installation, and more.
Food plants seem to be the busiest industry as ironworkers are increasingly working on maintenance contracts, Delaney said, and they are also in demand for building wind turbines.
Apprenticeships last three years with six weeks on the job and one week in the training classroom, all paid.
Kirkwood College Community’s Workplace Learning Connection organized the Career Fair that drew more than 300 students from West Branch, Tipton, and North Cedar high schools.
The fair brought in more than 25 area businesses and organizations that covered healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, business, engineering, trades and more.
According to a press release, the career fair is the largest of several events WLC hosts in Tipton.
“The Cedar County Career Fair is such an exciting event,” WLC Director Kristine Bullock said in a statement. “The fair gives students the opportunity to not only learn about different types of careers available but also to open their eyes to all the amazing opportunities that are available right in Cedar County and the surrounding area. Businesses are excited to be involved because workforce shortages and pipeline development are top of mind for all industries right now. Getting in front of the next generation of workers is pivotal for continued success for these businesses.”
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