Recruiting skilled, reliable plumbing employees is getting more difficult by the day. I know all about this because I operate a technical trade school with locations in Las Vegas and Phoenix. For the past few years, our plumbing students have been regularly recruited by local contractors even before they graduate. Think about that. This is what happens to top-of-the-class medical and law students at Ivy League schools. Anecdotally, this underscores the biggest problem trade industries are facing — one that will only get bigger the more time passes.
According to the Associated General Contractors, 86% of employers struggle to fill hourly or salaried positions. And, yes, the pandemic may temper the urgency for a short while, but it will not stop the legions of Baby Boomer plumbers set to retire in the next 10 years. Then what? How will the need for qualified plumbers be solved? There is no one answer, but rather many ways in which the skills gap in plumbing can be lessened.