Blog

I had a conversation with a young man recently who expressed interest in exploring the plumbing or HVAC trades. He had no experience in those trades, though he was mechanically inclined and always working around the house fixing and building things. But he had a full-time job and a family to support,...

Hardly a week goes by when I don’t come across and article like this one reporting on the labor shortage playing out nationwide. In this case, a survey reports that 70% of remodeling contractors are saying they can’t find enough help, especially skilled workers. Many of them have to turn down jobs...

A bandwagon is rolling across the country. It’s exemplified by this website and many other organizations that are devoting time, effort and money to address the nationwide shortage of skilled labor. In late February, Lowe’s Companies, Inc., the parent company of the country’s second largest home...

I’m a news junkie. As a journalist by calling, that’s to be expected. My daily reading list (mostly online nowadays) includes the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune (my hometown daily newspapers) and a local suburban newspaper...

October 20, 2016 The trade shortage is a global problem It’s not just here in the U.S. Employers around the world are finding it hard to recruit enough skilled trade workers – harder than any other field. The latest Talent Shortage Survey by ManpowerGroup that was just released sampled more than...