Ask most trade business owners why they can’t find skilled workers, and the answer points outward. Kids aren’t interested in the trades. High schools don’t promote them. Trade schools aren’t graduating enough people. Job boards fill up with applicants who never show up to the interview. Manja Horner has a blunter take: for years, the industry has handed the problem to everyone but itself.
Who owners are waiting on
Most hiring plans quietly depend on other people. Parents are supposed to steer their kids toward the trades, and high schools are supposed to do the counselling. Trade schools and apprenticeship programs are supposed to deliver trained entrants. Some other company is supposed to take a chance on an untrained apprentice, teach them on the job site, and carry them through certification.
Only then does the contractor post an ad and wonder why no skilled people apply. That isn’t a talent shortage. It’s a company that outsourced every stage of workforce development and is surprised its pipeline is empty.
The market is hard, but it isn’t the excuse
The outside pressures are real. The 2030 retirement cliff is approaching. Data centers, nuclear expansion, and shipbuilding are drawing workers away, and a slowdown in new construction is pushing labor toward repair and renovation. These shifts explain why the old hiring playbook stopped working. They don’t write a new one.
What to do instead
Be visible. Post short videos of real crews on real job sites. Show the culture, and give young people something concrete to picture, such as [what a first-year apprentice earns and where they could be in five years].
Partner locally. Show up at career days. Get to know instructors at high schools, trade schools, and employment programs. Become a familiar name before students graduate.
Train in-house. Finding promising people is only the start. Write down a plan that takes each newcomer from apprentice to journeyperson, with defined steps and a named mentor, instead of hoping they pick things up on the job.
Contractors who wait for parents, schools, and competitors to fix the shortage will keep losing candidates to the ones who train their own.
