The data center boom is driving up demand for skilled construction workers. To help meet that urgent need, North America’s Building Trades Unions have partnered with Microsoft and OpenAI to try to expand the workforce pipeline into the skilled trades.
TradesFutures is part of that effort. The workforce intermediary promotes on-ramps to union apprenticeships and careers in construction. It was created by NABTU and industry partners before becoming a stand-alone organization in 2023.
Interest is surging across the TradesFutures network of 200+ apprenticeship-readiness programs in 34 states. Those programs enrolled 7,700 people last year. They seek to expose jobseekers to skilled construction careers, expanding access for an industry where opportunities are typically found through word of mouth.
TradesFutures works with both organized labor and industry management. The financing varies for its affiliates, with unions typically providing in-kind support, such as space and tools. But every affiliate operates its own apprenticeship, says Marina Zhavoronkova, executive director of TradesFutures.
“We feel confident that we’re placing someone in a career,” says Zhavoronkova, who was a senior adviser to the U.S. Commerce Department’s CHIPS Program Office during the Biden administration. She says the registered apprenticeships graduates move into are safe, pay good wages, and offer a path forward.
The group this week released a report on the network’s apprenticeship-readiness programs. It found promising practices as well as common barriers, including widely varying placement rates into apprenticeships.
Nearly half of the surveyed programs cited a limited availability of local apprenticeship slots, for example. And roughly a third said a common problem is completers who aren’t job-ready or placeable into apprenticeships.
The most important factor in overcoming these challenges is a strong, sustained relationship between the apprenticeship-readiness programs and unions, the report found. These should be multilevel partnerships, including direct relationships with training directors, to understand trade-specific expectations.
Managing enrollment is also important, Zhavoronkova says. Programs should seek to ensure that the supply of graduates matches apprenticeship openings. They also should screen applicants to ensure that they meet minimum requirements for local apprenticeships, like a GED or high school diploma.
Money, however, is at the root of key problems identified by the report. For example, many of the programs are small grassroots organizations with a few staff members. The lack of capacity can prevent them from connecting participants to apprenticeship opportunities and supporting them through placement. Likewise, the programs often lack the operational infrastructure needed to apply for and manage funding.
“The funding need is huge,” says Zhavoronkova. “With full resources, these programs could collectively place thousands more students into union construction apprenticeships and careers.”