Revolution Workshop is providing a model that Chicago has never seen: fusing a comprehensive carpentry and design workforce development model with a social enterprise
Skilled Trades employers have not been able to find enough good help
* Heartland Alliance Report on Illinois Poverty March 2017
Skilled Trades Labor Shortage
For the seventh consecutive year, the 2017 Manpower talent shortage employer survey lists the skilled trades as the hardest jobs to fill in the United States.
Nearly 40% of the Chicago metro building construction workforce was lost after 2008, yet demand for building in 2017 continues to grow for both residential and commercial projects.*
There is an aging workforce with more than half of skilled tradesmen over 45 years old.**
A building renaissance is under way, as the last big building boom happened during the Eisenhower administration. Our nation’s infrastructure needs to be rebuilt.
* Chicago Tribune May 31, 2016 “Construction contractors warn of a labor shortage as building booms” **EMSI, 2012