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Dean Marsico
Almost every industry has been disrupted by technology. In some cases, it’s created a demand for highly skilled, technical and analytical work. In other cases, that technological change has reduced the need for routine, mechanized work.
Production lines are now automated, and switchboard operators have been replaced by interactive voice response menus. There are even more self-checkout aisle registers at grocery and retail stores.
Many of yesterday’s burgeoning industries may be upended in the next few decades due to technological advancements. As such, it would seem like the only occupations with guaranteed growth are the high-tech jobs, but the truth is – they’re not the only ones.
Consider the masonry industry.
Derek Stearns
While the construction business as a whole is reacting to the demand for outsourcing and technological solutions that fast-track projects, there’s still a large portion of work that requires a skilled laborer onsite to finish the job.
The numbers don’t lie, either. According to the new data mining project, the Masonry Contractors Association of America, the masonry industry is now a $22.7 billion business and is expected in the next five years to reach $32 billion. This fast-growing field showcases the need for more products and labor, but also illustrates a widening gap in the number of able workers dedicated to the critical installation work.
Industries Struggle to Find Young Workers
John Kemp, president of CRH Americas Building Solutions, said the struggle to bridge that gap is real.
“Once builders acquire the products, which are being used in more and more commercial and residential projects, they need someone to lay the brick or install the stone,” he said. “It doesn’t just install itself.”
According to most labor statistics, the average construction worker is in his or her early 40s, but Kemp estimated the average age of a mason is much older. If all the workers retire, he said, the industry will start to lose its expertise and brain-trust. The need for the younger generation to be brought into the business is at an all–time high. A great opportunity awaits those who want a good-paying, steady career.
With the shortage of skilled laborers and the skyrocketing costs of a college degree, a foray into the trades is a viable, smart option. If there’s early interest in hands-on work, consider a local vocational school with trade-specific curriculums often allow experiential learning and a sampling of the different fields of trade. A four-year traditional college program is certainly right for some, but it’s not the right fit for everyone. A two-year program at a post-high school trade school is another option for young adults wanting to enter into a high-growth career field with a leg up on the job search competition and a lot less debt.
College dropout rates are estimated to be 40 percent, according to the Institute of Education Statistics. Often, students finish secondary school with a bachelor’s degree, but still require focused training, particularly in technology, to qualify for better jobs. Developing a specialized skill set in masonry is an investment in a promising future.
Trades Offer Rewarding Work
From a young age, children are told to take pride in their work, and when they are very young, they do exactly that. There are endless opportunities to design, build and showcase their skills. That happens less and less in adolescence, and by young adulthood, education is more about the books, and less about the hands-on creative process. Studying a trade can provide a different outlet for learning and inspire ingenuity in new and innovative ways.
Skilled work also requires a great deal of teamwork. All projects, big and small, teach project management, negotiation, time management and the constant need for follow-through. Masons quite literally cement all the different pieces of the puzzle together – from the initial foundation to the last stone set in place.
Allowing career-oriented young minds to envision the end result can help them focus on the bigger picture and allow them to feel as though they’re all working towards a common goal. No building project comes together without the help of many different skilled trades. There’s always a sense of unity and collaboration needed to get the job done right.
Maybe the best part of using a centuries-old skill, and one’s hands to construct a stone wall, build a pathway, finish a fireplace or assemble a patio or piazza is the project’s lasting impact. The sense of pride this industry, like many other trades, provides, is an everlasting one. Looking at a building – like the law school at Boston College, or the library at Yale University – and knowing that your work will be on full display for generations to come is a feeling not many workers get to experience.
The door is wide open for the next generation of high school, trade school and even college graduates to explore a career in masonry, or another skilled industry. The demand for employees to execute high-level finish work is growing and will continue to build. For anyone who wants an opportunity to flourish in a prosperous, sustainable field of work that can likely be passed on in years to come, consider the trades. They are a rock-solid option for future success.
Dean Marsico and Derek Stearns are managers of marketing and sales at Hingham-based Plymouth Quarries.
