CLAYTON COUNTY, GA — Sixteen recent Clayton County high school graduates are celebrating the completion of a summer training program designed to prepare them for careers in the skilled trades.
Construction Ready marked graduation day for its 20-day program, which provides hands-on training in fields including electrical work, welding and carpentry. Participants completed four weeks of training from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and earned eight industry-recognized credentials.
“Instead of going on summer break, they’ve dedicated the last four weeks showing up 8 to 5 p.m. earning eight industry recognized credentials,” said Construction Ready Vice President Luke Fletcher.
Construction Ready says graduates will now be matched with employers in the industries they want to pursue through apprenticeship opportunities. Fletcher said students also earn college credits while completing their apprenticeships and, after five years, are only a few classes away from earning an associate degree.
“Some basic level knowledge that they’ll be able to take into the craft that they decide to go into and grow into an apprenticeship,” Fletcher said.
The graduation comes as the U.S. faces a shortage of skilled trades workers. According to estimates from the U.S. Department of Education, more than 2.1 million skilled trades jobs could go unfilled over the next four years, resulting in about $1 trillion in annual economic losses.
Officials say the shortage is being driven in part by millions of blue-collar workers nearing retirement and too few young people entering the workforce.
Fletcher said the need is especially great in the electrical industry.
“The electrical craft nationwide needs about 88,000 new employees or apprentices,” he said.
Construction Ready invited schools to bring students to SkillsUSA in February to identify candidates for the summer program.
“Kids who don’t have the opportunity to have a construction class or skill trade touch point while in high school but know that they want to go and be an electrician and join the union, and become a carpenter,” Fletcher said.
During the program’s hiring fair, Fletcher said employers and students rank one another to determine the best apprenticeship matches.
“We ask them to rank their top students one through five; we ask the students who can you see yourself working with one through five,” Fletcher said.
Construction Ready says about 70% of students who complete the program are working in construction one year after graduation. Another summer training program is currently underway with Atlanta Public Schools, with those students expected to graduate next month.
“If they like to work outside, they like to work with their hands, if they get the right mentorship and get into the right apprenticeship program, you know the sky is the limit,” Fletcher said.
