Building Bridges with the Next Generation of Our Workforce

This article was originally published in APWA Reporter, December 2022 issue

Be honest—when was the last time you didn’t find yourself wondering when and where the workforce shortage happened? We’re all talking about it—the media, industry and professional associations, leadership teams, and peer crews.

In response to a shrinking pool of skilled trade professionals, a rising “gig” economy, and looking ahead to a generation of workers scheduled to retire, new workforce development tools, resources, and strategic programs to create pathways to public works and infrastructure jobs started to take shape several years ago. Recent events increased the urgency to accelerate and expand these programs.

Through my work with NH’s Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), I’ve learned about many of these exciting workforce development programs. While training and education cannot be overemphasized (it’s the backbone of what we do at UNH T2 every day!), I’m impressed with the ways our industry is going beyond the classroom to build public works awareness and engage with the future generation of our workforce. After all, nothing tells the public works story better than getting people involved in doing it.

This summer, our center partnered with the UNH Tech Camp Techventures Bridge Program and NH Good Roads to take campers in grades eight through 10 on a bus tour to a local bridge project. Onsite, students learned about some of the unique and important aspects of the project, including its placement in an environmentally sensitive area and its impact to the local neighborhood.

NH Department of Transportation staff, ED Swett, and Pike Industries supported campers in using an auto-level, working with the real blueprints that had the foreman’s ongoing notes scribbled on them, and measuring rebar. They talked about how bridge engineers and the build team change course to respond to challenges that arise and encouraged campers to come back with their families in the fall when the bridge was completed, to feel that sense of pride in telling their families that they “had a hand” in this bridge.

New Hampshire’s Construction Career Days (NHCCD) takes a similar approach to raising awareness to the construction and transportation workforce through real-world, hands-on activities. At this annual event made possible by a vast team of partners and volunteers, almost 1,500 students a year actively participate in dozens of construction-related hands-on activities—from electrical wiring to welding, driving a backhoe to operating plow controls.

Since its inception in 2009, NHCCD has introduced more than 12,000 students to the many options they have for a career in construction or transportation. These students also return from their NHCCD experience to their families and communities with a deeper, broader appreciation for all the tools, tasks, jobs, and people that bring infrastructure to life and support our communities’ quality of life.

While students get a quick taste for all things construction at NHCCD, some agencies have adopted programs with deeper experiential learning for those considering a public works career.

MassDOT-UMTC On-the-Job Supportive Services program offers a select number of students who successfully complete a pre-apprenticeship training program additional employment support services to enter the transportation field, including four-week co-op placements at local highway departments.

David Smith, Head of Operations in Sudbury, Mass., shared his experience of the program with me. While working as the highway superintendent in Berlin, Mass., Dave was introduced to Aidan, a junior and high achieving welding student from nearby Keefe Regional Technical School. Dave candidly told Aidan the department didn’t have much work specific to welding, but Aidan was eager to participate in the core work of the team and learn more about public works. Through Aidan’s initiative and a team member’s interest in providing behind-the-wheel time with the trucks and heavy equipment, Aidan obtained his CDL-B while at DPW. When his co-op with Berlin was complete, Dave ensured Aidan had a placement in public works at a nearby town, and eventually was pleased to welcome Aidan back to his own team (although in Sudbury) a few years later.

One important thread in the examples above is that the public works awareness and outreach activities were not driven or owned by those at the top of the organization, they were not director-directed. Each involved crew team members, site supervisors, volunteer heavy equipment operators, or peers who took an interest in sharing what they were doing with someone else, and to encourage someone towards a career in public works.

I asked Dave if he had encountered any skepticism that investing time in someone who may not stay with the department would be a futile cause, and he replied, “If I can help somebody’s career path, I’m all for it. If you can be a piece of the puzzle to help them improve, that’s a good reflection on you as a leader.” There is opportunity for all of us—in fact, a critical need for all of us—at all levels of the organization to become a piece of that puzzle and raise awareness to public works and promote the workforce.

I say often, “This is not your grandfather’s public works.” To be clear, the men and women of past generations who built our infrastructure and communities did so with the same commitment, skill, dedication, and service to others as today’s public works workforce. However, each generation undoubtedly accomplishes their work through different means—be it improvements in materials, safety protocol, or construction. We’re always working differently.

The question I have for us is: Are we doing everything we can to tell the story of how we work today, and what we think tomorrow’s work will look like?

Have we done an adequate job sharing and creating awareness of what a week in public works looks like? In sharing the tools, technologies, and practices public works employees use to build longer lasting streets that accommodate every user, to construct bridges in previously unimaginable time frames, to apply water monitoring to understand trends in disease and illness?

By creating synergies between public works awareness efforts and workforce development strategies, we help the next generation envision themselves as part of the workforce making our towns and cities run smarter, more efficiently, sustainably, and effectively. To envision themselves as part of the public works teams that make it happen.