America has a workforce problem, and the construction industry is doing something about it.
For decades, the dominant message delivered to young Americans has been a variation of the same script: graduate, go to college, earn a degree, get a job. It is not bad advice. But somewhere along the way it became the only advice, and the cost of that narrowing is now visible in every sector that depends on skilled hands to function.
I have spent more than 25 years in the construction industry. I did not start my career behind a desk. I started as a carpenter and equipment operator, worked my way through supervision and management, and eventually became an executive and partner in an 80-year-old firm, Greenhut Construction, building Northwest Florida. My path is not unusual in construction. What is unusual is how rarely that path gets held up as a model.
As host of Beyond the Build, the official podcast of Associated Builders and Contractors North Florida, I have these conversations regularly with contractors, developers, elected officials, and community leaders. The conclusion I keep reaching is the same: the workforce shortage in the skilled trades is a cultural and structural challenge, and the industry is rising to meet it.
Progress is real. Apprenticeship programs are expanding. Career and technical education is gaining ground in schools across the country. Industry associations, employers, and educators are building genuine partnerships that are producing trained, work-ready people. ABC North Florida, as part of the largest private provider network of apprenticeship programs in the country, is proof that the industry is not waiting for someone else to solve this.
But the gap remains significant. There are currently roughly 350,000 unfilled construction positions nationally, and projections suggest that number will grow as an experienced generation of craftspeople moves toward retirement. The programs being built today are necessary, and they need more investment, more visibility, and more urgency behind them.
For business leaders, the implication is specific. We cannot outsource this problem to associations and trade schools alone. Every employer in this industry has a role to play, through training programs, apprenticeships, mentorship, and deliberate leadership development that prepares skilled workers for management roles before they are promoted into them unprepared. Showing employees a career ladder, not just a job, is what converts a new hire into a long-term contributor.
The economic mobility argument is worth making loudly. A young person who enters a skilled trade has a clear path from apprentice to journeyman to supervisor to business owner. Many of the most successful construction and contracting businesses in the country were built by people who started with a tool belt. That is entrepreneurship with a lower barrier to entry than most MBA programs acknowledge, and a more reliable path to ownership for people without elite credentials or generational wealth.
What I am ultimately arguing for is a redefinition of what success looks like at 18. Not a rejection of college, but a genuine expansion of what gets celebrated. A student who chooses electrician training over a four-year degree is not making a lesser choice. In many cases they are making a smarter one, graduating without debt, entering a labor market that needs them, and beginning to build hands-on expertise that compounds over decades.
The industry is building the solution. What it needs now is for more leaders, in business, in education, and in policy, to get behind it.
Someone still has to build it. Let’s make sure we have the people to do it.
About the Author: Kelvin Enfinger Jr. is Vice President at Greenhut Construction and past chair of ABC North Florida. He hosts Beyond the Build, the official podcast of Associated Builders and Contractors North Florida, the region’s leading commercial construction association, and part of the largest private provider network of apprenticeship programs in the country.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice. The views and opinions expressed herein reflect those of the individuals quoted and do not represent an endorsement of any company, product, or service mentioned. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult qualified professionals before making any investment decisions.
