Bridging the Talent Gap in Glass & Glazing: Unlocking Potential from Related Industries
Tom Caldicott
?? Founder @ Unity Search | Helping Glass & Metal Companies Hire the Best Talent + Build their Brand on LinkedIn ?? Recovering Golf Addict ? Coffee Aficionado ? Exercise Mad ????♂? Sunshine Adorer ??
?? It's the start of another week in the Facade industry!
The last full one before the dreaded.....sorry, I mean, welcomed Christmas break!
I don't know about you but every year after Thanksgiving, we get into a real business rhythm and then Christmas hits.
With the market picking up, projects shaking loose and 2025/2026 projecting a nice horizon for the glass and glazing industry, it leads us nicely into this week's topic......
?? How are we going to deliver all these projects??
With that in mind, grab some caffeine ? and enjoy this week's edition of Facade Focus.
The Glass & Glazing industry is at a crossroads. With increasing project demands and an ageing workforce, the industry faces a pressing talent shortage. But while the skills gap poses a challenge, it also presents an opportunity. By tapping into adjacent industries with overlapping processes, such as miscellaneous metals, sheet metal, cladding, precast concrete, structural steel, roofing systems, and modular construction, we can infuse new talent into Glass & Glazing while diversifying expertise.
This week, we explore how transferable skills from related fields can address the talent gap and ensure the industry's continued growth.
The Challenge: A Shrinking Talent Pool
Over the past decade, the Glass & Glazing industry has grappled with several workforce challenges:
With demand for curtain wall, storefront, and facade systems on the rise, the industry needs to think creatively to meet its workforce needs.
A Common Thread: Shared Processes Across Industries
Several industries share the core workflow of design, engineering, fabrication, and installation, making their talent pools ripe for transition into the Glass & Glazing sector. Let’s take a closer look at six related industries and their transferable skills:
1. Miscellaneous Metals
2. Sheet Metal
3. Cladding
4. Precast Concrete
5. Structural Steel
6. Roofing Systems
7. Modular Construction
How to Attract Talent from Related Industries
Tapping into adjacent talent pools requires a targeted approach. Here’s how the Glass & Glazing industry can attract professionals from these fields:
1. Highlight Transferable Skills
Showcase how their existing knowledge and skills, such as reading shop drawings, CAD modeling, and working with tolerances, can be directly applied to Glass & Glazing roles.
2. Offer Training and Development
Develop short, focused training programs to bridge gaps in industry-specific knowledge. Topics might include the thermal performance of glass, installation techniques, and facade system testing.
3. Leverage Cross-Industry Partnerships
Collaborate with trade schools, unions, and industry associations from the sheet metal, cladding, precast concrete, and structural steel sectors to identify and recruit talent.
4. Focus on Career Growth
Glass & Glazing often offers a broader scope of projects and career advancement opportunities compared to adjacent fields. Emphasize these benefits during recruitment.
A Win-Win Opportunity
The talent shortage in Glass & Glazing is a challenge, but it’s also a chance to innovate. By embracing professionals from related industries, we can fill critical roles while introducing fresh perspectives and approaches to design, engineering, and installation. Whether it’s a cladding design engineer learning the intricacies of curtain wall systems or a modular construction manager transitioning to facade projects, the possibilities are vast.
The future of Glass & Glazing lies in its ability to attract and nurture new talent—and looking beyond traditional boundaries is the key to ensuring the industry's growth and sustainability.
Fa?ade Engineer | Building Envelope | Curtainwall Glazing, ACP Cladding | Abu Dhabi | UAE
2 个月I agreed with most of the points you highlighted above. Fa?ade industry is growing at fast pace and there is a lack of skilled professionals in this field. And I think the reason is lack of knowledge about fa?ade engineering with the graduate engineers due to the lack of study stuff in our in the engineering courses. In our engineering courses specially in Civil Engineer mainly our focused are on the concrete and steel related engineering there is a negligible study stuffs for Fa?ade engineers. To attract talented and skilled individuals to fa?ade industry we have to work on engineering curriculum in our education system and provide more information about this industry to our engineering students. Also we can attract fresh graduates to short-term courses and develop their skills by giving them practical and technical knowledge of fa?ade Engineer.
IUPAT Glaziers
2 个月Hi Tom Caldicott, I’m not sure I agree with all of this. For example, in regards to precast concrete workers, you said, “The workflow of producing high-precision components in a controlled environment translates well to Glass & Glazing’s requirements for facade panels and curtain wall systems.” This seems a bit simplified. Someone from the precast concrete industry may be a good candidate for an apprenticeship, but in no way would they be qualified to install architectural panels and curtain wall. I believe the focus for building a qualified workforce should be clear career pathways outlined with training and certification milestones. This starts with educating young people and ends with capstone certifications specific to the architectural glass and metal industry. For example: 1. Industry education at a high school level or earlier 2. Pre apprenticeship 3. Apprenticeship/Training both OTJ and classroom 4. Hours worked in trade building proficiency 5. Capstone certifications like AGMT This is what needs to be done to build a strong, qualified workforce that will remain in the industry. Other means are stop gaps that resolve acute workforce issues but not the root issue.