Tag: workforce: Page 18

Workforce

A Kansas tech school began recruiting diesel mechanics like college athletes and now they have a waiting list

Recruiting diesel technology students hasn’t been a challenge for Washburn Institute of Technology, based in Topeka, Kansas. “If I could get a bigger space, I could get 100 students,” said Clark Coco, Washburn. A former college basketball coach, Coco came up with the idea of using the college athlete recruitment model to recruit tech students. […]

September 8, 2014

Business

Construction industry extends employment streak, adds 20,000 jobs in August

The U.S. construction industry extended its streak of job gains in August, adding 20,000 workers. It was the eighth-straight month of gains for the industry which now employs 6.068 million Americans—the highest figure since May 2009, according to data from the Labor Department. The new data also revised upward the July employment number from 6.041 […]

September 5, 2014

Business

Majority of skilled construction workers who lost jobs in wake of the recession have been rehired, but many are being paid less

As the U.S. construction industry faces a shortage of skilled labor, a new government study finds that the majority of skilled workers who lost their jobs in the wake of the Great Recession have already been reemployed by the industry. According to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics study, 62 percent of the 393,000 long-tenured […]

September 3, 2014

Business

These 3 changes to your day-to-day will make you a more productive worker on the construction jobsite

“Work smarter, not harder.” How many times have you seen that quote? Over time, the idea that your best performance is a result of how you work, not how long you work, has become widely accepted. Studies have shown that the last employee to leave each day isn’t necessarily the hardest worker; they may simply […]

August 25, 2014

Safety

Construction worker killed by utility line electrocution on jobsite near Seattle

A construction worker was killed Wednesday afternoon after he was electrocuted while working on a hospital expansion in Edmonds, Washington. According to a report from KIRO TV in Seattle, crews were moving utility lines on a jobsite on the campus of Swedish Hopsital. One of the workers was “in a ditch working with a compressed […]

August 21, 2014

Safety

Construction workers are 22% more likely to die on Texas jobsites

Over the weekend, the Dallas Morning News released a bombshell of a report on workplace deaths in Texas as compared to other states. After an analysis of the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics workplace death data available, the News found that workers in Texas are 12 percent more likely to die on the job than in […]

August 18, 2014

Technology

AEM survey: Construction firms plan to grow staff and fleet size, but most have no plans to use telematics

According to a survey released this morning by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, U.S. construction companies are fairly optimistic about the near future as the majority say they plan to either increase or maintain current fleet and staff levels. The survey was conducted by AEM earlier this year with more than 1,200 responses coming in. […]

August 18, 2014

Workforce

Seattle may require construction companies to hire local workers

The Seattle City Council is mulling over creating an ordinance that would require construction companies contracted by the city to hire a certain number of local workers for each job. According to a report from KIRO Radio, Seattle City Council member Sally Clark said the council is taking action after an analysis of construction projects […]

August 13, 2014

Business

Workforce development program gives teens a small paid job with classroom time; could be model for construction industry

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article Thursday describing how a wire factory in Georgia employed high school kids during the summer to help develop their work skills and improve their attitudes and academic performance. The program has the kids do fairly simple tasks in the factory for pay four hours a day and […]

August 11, 2014

Business

The 6 signs of a bad construction boss

Managing employees can be one of the toughest jobs to face when running a company. Too often, contractors build their business without having any training, guidance or expertise in how to deal with their people effectively. If you’re in the black, you might not worry about how good of a boss you are, but poor […]

August 5, 2014

Business

Wages for construction workers and heavy equipment manufacturing workers are on the rise

We’re now five years into the economic recovery following the Great Recession and pay raises, according to a report from the Associated Press, are uneven across U.S. industries. Overall, pay in the U.S. has risen at a rate roughly equal to inflation: about 2 percent per year. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, […]

August 5, 2014

Business

Construction adds 22,000 jobs in July; employment now at highest level in more than 5 years

The U.S. construction industry added jobs for a seventh-straight month in July, a streak that has propelled the sector’s employment to its highest level since May 2009. July saw a sizable gain of 22,000 workers bringing the number of Americans employed in construction to 6.041 million, according to preliminary data from the Commerce Department. The […]

August 1, 2014