ST. LOUIS — The skilled trades industry is expected to grow 10 percent by 2028, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the same amount of time, more than 3,000,000 skilled trades job openings are expected to go unfilled.
5 On Your Side spoke with representatives from Roofers Local Union No. 2 about the need for skilled workers in the St. Louis area.
“We could use 100 people in this town at any given time,” Union President Dennis Marshall said.
There are plenty of open positions, just not enough workers trained with the skills to fill them. The problem is one that's reflected nationally.
The newest study from Associated Buildings and Contractors says the industry needs to bring in more than 500,000 additional construction workers on top of the regular hiring rate in 2024, to meet the growing demand.
In St. Louis, Roofers Local Union No. 2 has teamed up with GAF Roofing to train the next round of roofers to fill jobs.
Our reporter, Sydney Stallworth, got an inside look at the GAF Roofing Academy while students were learning the tools of the trade. In the class, experts in the industry train up new workers at no cost to them.
Leaders from Local No. 2 say they sponsor the training to help fill the skilled worker shortage locally.
GAF Roofing recruits trainees from a variety of backgrounds.
Gary Pierson, the lead Trainer with GAF Roofing Care Team tells us that trainees come “... from underserved communities, transitioning military, previously incarcerated or generally at-risk youth. Or someone who’s just unemployed and looking to start a new career."
At the end of the one-week training, trainees can get hired on the spot.
"We have 20-plus contractors here to hire them and go straight to work on Monday,” Marshall said.
If the trainees land a job with a contractor, they get $200 worth of tools for free along with other benefits and bonuses. The jobs are entry-level, but there's a lot of room to grow in the industry and possibly make six figures with specialty training.
"I ended up going to college and got my 2 year degree. But by the time I graduated, I was already a foreman and running work," Matt Wittenborn, lead training director for Roofers Local No. 2, said. "I was already making good money. It was like, 'Well, do I get out and try to work with my degree? Or do I stay with what's already paying me well and giving me pension and insurance and everything like that?'
Whittenborn adds, "Here I am, 24 years later, and I'm running the training program."
GAF Roofing's goal this year is to train 2,000 roofers across the country.
Jasmine Coleman is one of several women in the class.
“It’s just helping me grow as a person," she said,
She says, this is an industry where your work speaks for itself.
“You know, you don’t have to fit in and be one of the guys,” she said.
"You get thirty years, forty years of experience basically for free, for just showing up.” David Freeman, a trainee at the GAF Roofing Academy said. "It was a good decision. I'm glad I did it."
Freeman's partner went into labor while he was at the training program.
“It was probably one of the hardest decisions I ever made in life to leave my son who was about to be born and come to a class and learn something that I need," he said. “I got the call at maybe about 2 o’clock in the afternoon and I had to run out of here and get to the hospital.”
Freeman's partner gave birth to a healthy baby boy. He said it's another reason to complete the training and begin a new career.
“I got a lot of people counting on me.” he said, “I want to put something in to where 10, 15, 20 years from now, he has something to fall back on.”