Could Gen Z be the next toolbelt generation?
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Lower college enrollment and higher vocational school numbers suggest members of Generation Z may enter the workforce as a “toolbelt generation,” according to a new report from ADP.
The Roseland, New Jersey-based payroll management services company tracked the number of Americans in blue collar, white collar and service jobs and found that between January 2019 and May 2024, the blue-collar share of employment increased faster for workers in their early 20s than for workers aged 25 to 39, signaling that the younger generation may be turning to the trades.
Nonetheless, the share of those workers has remained flat since 2022, indicating a plateau or potential reversal of the trend. Still, construction needs new workers, and experts believe Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2012 — is a good fit.
Here, Construction Dive talks with Kit Dickinson, construction industry executive at ADP, about what makes this generation right for construction and how the field can capitalize on the emerging workforce.
The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.
CONSTRUCTION DIVE: It seems that Gen Z is entering the blue-collar workforce in bigger numbers than in the past. What about the timing is right for construction to take advantage of this new group?
KIT DICKINSON: The way I see it is we’re really at an inflection point, where the Gen Z population is embracing that belief that if you want to be part of a growing industry and have career growth potential, job security and good income possibilities, that path may best be achieved by going into the trades.
Kit Dickinson
Permission granted by ADP
They’re seeing their peers go to traditional four-year colleges. They read all about tech layoffs and office jobs being replaced by artificial intelligence, about people coming out with a lot of student loan debt. So, that pendulum is swinging toward pursuing construction work for many of this generation.
It’s been great to see the construction industry doing a much better, more creative job of promoting the benefits of joining the trades. For example, dispelling some of the old misconceptions that if you go into construction, you’re going to be holding a shovel, holding up highway traffic or swinging the same hammer for 30 years. That’s absolutely not the case.
They’re doing an effective job of touting income potential and growth opportunities and how technology is an active part of the jobsite, the impact that you can make to your community. All those things really resonate with Gen Z.
We’re also seeing more people going into high schools or even junior highs to invest in internships and promoting competitions, other ways to promote the workers of tomorrow today, because they’re needed in great volume.
What else are employers doing to recruit young people?
We’re also seeing the industry doing a nice job of appealing to Gen Z through benefits that are tailored to what’s important to these people. Some of the more progressive firms are looking at what menu of benefits they should offer.
Some of the things that are most important for this generation are tuition reimbursement, mental health counseling, days of service for helping out the community and even things like pet insurance and bringing pets on the jobsite where appropriate, which maybe hasn’t been historically as important to other generations.
Then as you start to look at keeping these people in your company and in the industry, those career development opportunities, including management, even the path toward entrepreneurship is important. This generation, they’re ambitious by nature. They want to “climb the ladder” as they say, so being able to present and deliver on a career ladder that has many different options is important.
Gen Z has a reputation for being socially conscious. What can contractors do to show they share these values?
Broadly speaking, they want to feel heard. Make sure that you are actively checking in with the workers and engaging with them. They want to feel heard in those discussions, to have a say. Historically, maybe construction had a negative perception in that regard.
Some of the other things are making certain accommodations at the jobsite that haven’t been there before. Gearing that to attract more women into construction by having, for example, lactation stations on the jobsite and making equipment accommodations instead of one-size-fits-all gear.
Those are things that you have to evolve and be more progressive in some respects to help attract and retain those coveted workers, because they’re in great demand.
With federal funds flowing to big projects, is it now more important than ever for builders to up their recruiting game?
Absolutely. The construction industry, while still achieving growth across the board, there is some softening occurring around private or residential work. But that is being offset by those government projects. When those were enacted, there was a forecast of needing approximately 500,000 workers on top of an already stressed labor market.
What used to be kind of a nice-to-have, that we need to branch out and explore other generations and younger workers and such, is now a need-to-have because there’s just too much work. And if we talk to different companies it continues to be the No. 1 challenge. What keeps you up at night as a business owner is attracting and retaining the skilled labor needed to meet the demands.
Earlier you mentioned technology. Will that help to recruit and retain Gen Z?
Yes, it will absolutely help. Just like every generation leaves their fingerprints on advancing construction, the Gen Z viewpoint, growing up with an iPhone in their hand, is going to continue. And I think it will bring ideas on how we can better optimize and be more efficient, not only at the jobsite, but obviously in the back office.
Some of the other things, like drones and 3D imaging, probably were not thought of for years past in construction. As new people come in with new ideas and new expectations and new ways to advance and grow the business and make it more efficient at the jobsite, I’m seeing a much more open mindset of these construction company owners to embrace that technology.
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