The Jobs of the Past are the Jobs of the Future - Our Musings on the Labor Shortage in the Trades
Hi there,
We wanted to talk about an ongoing issue that is quite abuzz these days. We simply don’t have enough people to meet the demands of the construction industry in this town (and in our country). Business Insider did a great article on this you can read it by clicking here.
It’s kind of crazy really, how it seems more and more the trades have become a lost art. The amount of demand for builders, and tradespeople is so high, and the labor market is not keeping up. This is adding cost to building all over the country, but especially in places like Santa Barbara, where we have to import labor from more affordable areas because we just don’t have a local skilled workforce due to cost of living. It is a sad truth of the state of this town, and all construction companies are dealing with this situation.
Santa Barbara is particularly unique in that many of the laborers who actually build in SB come in from Ventura, or even further. For example a framing crew on a project I was on was coming in five days a week from Santa Paula. And they were not paid for drive time!
The cost of living in SB is so astronomical that most people in the trades can’t afford to live here, unless they bought real estate a long time ago, inherited real estate from family or have a very good deal on rent.
As a company we are so far successfully managing this reality quite well, but are deeply saddened by how rare local talent is, and how prohibitive it is for makers to live in this city.
Which brings us to my next point. We are hiring an experienced lead carpenter/foreman, as well as a project manager. If you know anyone who would like to work for a progressive construction company who reveres their team and values long lasting relationships, please reach out. We can pass along a link to our job descriptions upon request.
If you have a young person in your life, encourage them to look into getting into the trades. There is a huge gap in the job market, and it’s a fun and rewarding career path for those uninterested in sitting (or standing) at a desk all day.
We at Kellow Construction are unique because we come from a traditional apprenticeship background, learning the tricks of the trades directly from journeyman mentors. We carry that teacher's heart with our company and seek out the opportunity to train younger workers. We are passionate about encouraging the youth to learn to work with their hands and be able to work on homes and structures. We wholeheartedly support programs like Tradart in Santa Barbara, who are working to bring back the needed trainings for our youths that have been taken away from public schools.
We have big dreams of starting an apprenticeship program in our company at some point, but that is a ways down the road.
Anyways thank you for reading. Please keep us in mind for any of your upcoming projects, and happy happy holidays!
The Kellow Construction Team
