Ready to Build?

The United States would face critical workforce challenges if it embarks on a major overhaul of its aging infrastructure, an idea with bipartisan support. In “Ready to Build? The State of Skills in the Infrastructure Workforce,” prepared for the National Network of Business and Industry Associations, Burning Glass Technologies found that a wave of retirements and changing demand for skills means employers and training providers need to act to ensure there are enough workers, and especially managers, to meet the need.

The report examined three key challenges:

• Changing Demand for Skills Creating Cross-Cutting Gaps: The changing nature of work creates gaps for key skills across a range of roles because the skills needed today differ from what the existing workforce possesses and what training providers currently offer.
• Misaligned Occupational Supply and Demand: Many rapidly growing occupations face supply shortages. There are just not enough new entrants to keep up with employer demand.
• Occupation-Specific Skill Gaps: In some roles, there may be enough workers to meet demand, but those workers do not have the specific technical skills employers need.