DALLAS — As the summer comes to a close and kids are heading back to school or off to college, they’re probably thinking of their long-term goals – like, what they plan to do for work after their studies are complete.
Here in North Texas, one industry is actively trying to recruit from this talent pool.
As the Dallas-Fort Worth region continues to grow at a rapid pace, the construction business is in dire need of help. And not just because of all the new homes they’re having to build.
More than 40 percent of the construction workforce is expected to retire by 2031. And yet only three percent of young people want to work in that field, according to a report from the Building Talent Foundation.
This gap has forced one builder to be proactive in how it finds new workers and change the narrative around the skilled labor industry with the younger generations.
Specifically, it’s meeting them where they are: online.
Gilberto Lara is a student at Collin College who saw a post on LinkedIn this past spring advertising an internship where he could get hands-on experience – but not with power tools.
Lara has spent this summer learning all about the construction business as an intern with the home construction company Taylor Morrison. Through this experience, he’s learned the full, 360-degree process of how to build homes from the ground up.
“Getting the field experience, there is so much to learn outside the classroom,” Lara said. “And that's what I've been gaining throughout this internship.”
Lara has spent his summer learning the ins and outs from his direct Taylor Morrison supervisor Ryan Vayda.
“We're out in the field, we walk houses together,” Vayda said. “Just hands-on learning all the time.”
That means learning everything from how to frame a home and installing insulation, sheet rock and cabinets to even walking building sites with buyers.
For Lara, the hardest tasks this summer were things most his age might not be tasked with: scheduling out the tradespeople, knowing what comes next in the building process and keeping tabs on which tasks have been completed.
“I'm still learning how to do it,” Lara said.
But through his experience, he’s found a possible passion. And the industry he’s working in may have found one more worker to fill its approaching void.
“When I graduate Collin College, I want to be a home builder for a residential company,” Lara said.