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Welcome to the Construction Workforce Development Center (CWDC). CWDC is a non-profit corporation working with the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) to grow a sustainable supply of craft professionals by...

Developing a reliable national forecasting model for managing workforce supply and demand.
Changing public perception of the construction trades and recruiting individuals new to the construction industry who will be trained and placed.
Promoting utilization of effective, qualified training programs, whether open shop or union apprenticeship programs.
Encouraging construction owners to participate in and hire contractors that actively engage in progressive workforce development programs.

The outlook for industrial construction signals at least another decade of growth and prosperity. Yet the demand for skilled labor is increasing more rapidly than the supply. Craft workers are retiring and efforts to recruit new workers are hampered by a lack of understanding of current craft career opportunities.

More than 95,000 new craft workers will be needed each year over the next decade to replace those leaving the industry. Is industry prepared to address these converging challenges?

Some argue that they aren’t responsible for the problem because shortages are not affecting their current projects. In reality, everybody in the industry owns this problem because eventually it will impact everyone’s ability to meet the business needs of industry.

This perfect storm presents the best opportunity in years for the industry to change the approach to recruiting – if owners take the lead. For many years, owners have required effective safety programs and, in the future, they must require that contractors participate in qualified training programs and in the CURT initiative with the CWDC.

The project has an unprecedented level of collaborative and tripartite support through the alliance of construction owners, open shop labor and organized labor. This project has been endorsed by...