The highway system affects every American. It connects distant corners of the continent, empowers a robust economy, provides ease of travel, and creates unprecedented opportunity for people to change their lives for the better. While the highway system delivers significant benefits, it must also be built, maintained, and operated by many, many people. Construction firms nationwide are having trouble finding those people.

According to a 2019 survey by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), 80 percent of construction firms reported difficulty finding qualified workers. A 2015 report by the U.S. Departments of Transportation, Education, and Labor echoed the massive and growing need for construction workers. Identifying, training, and placing workers into highway construction jobs is of vital national importance.

The sixth round of the FHWA Every Day Counts program (EDC-6) includes a strategic workforce development initiative to help companies and agencies overcome their workforce challenges.

This effort is a culmination of many years’ work. In 2016, FHWA partnered with multiple national agencies and organizations to establish the Highway Construction Workforce Partnership (HCWP). A 2-year HCWP pilot, from January 2017 to December 2018, explored how industry could collaborate with the public workforce system to recruit, train, and retain highway construction workers. The pilot was conducted in 12 locations—six State departments of transportation and six local public agencies. Based on the findings of the pilot, FHWA developed a concise, practical playbook called “Identify, Train, Place” for others to conduct their own highway workforce development efforts.

FHWA also developed an outreach campaign called Roads To Your Future to help raise awareness of highway construction as a career opportunity. The campaign includes free, downloadable marketing materials for use by anyone to attract people to the industry. Most of the materials can be customized to add local contact information.

Karen Bobo, director of the FHWA Center for Transportation Workforce Development and co-leader of the EDC-6 strategic workforce development implementation team, said the pilot and playbook were a good start, but an effort as large as construction workforce development needs a bigger boost.

“FHWA cannot solve this problem alone, but we have a crucial piece,” Bobo said. “FHWA has a national network to facilitate collaboration and learning between groups that might never have contact otherwise. There are answers to our workforce shortage out there, but they are in little pockets across the country. We see our role in EDC-6 as facilitators—finding those with the answers and connecting them to people with similar challenges.”

The implementation team will conduct multiple peer exchanges and webinars as part of its EDC-6 efforts. The goal of these gatherings is to attract not only entities familiar with the highway construction workforce problem, but unconventional partners with different perspectives and networks, such as local workforce centers and community colleges.

“America already has a robust workforce development system managed by the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration that includes a national network of Workforce Development Boards and Job Centers,” said Clark Martin, FHWA program manager for the HCWP. “Those organizations know how to train people and place them in careers. The HCWP brings that system together with the highway industry. There are good jobs in highway construction, and working together we can show what a viable career path it is.”

The EDC-6 strategic workforce development initiative builds on national efforts to identify and train workers to fill jobs in highway construction. (Credit: Getty Images)

Several States have developed innovative approaches to fill highway construction jobs. While no one has completely solved the puzzle, each has discovered a piece that might help others.

In Arizona, the State chapter of the AGC worked directly with construction firms to attract and train job candidates. They developed a 1-week course that covers the basic work and life skills candidates need to be hired. The course also includes field trips to highway construction sites. A key component of the training is that, if students finish, they are guaranteed a construction job.

The Idaho HCWP established a program that includes certifications in heavy equipment operation as well as hazardous waste operations and emergency response. Students also receive forklift training, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration 10-hour (OSHA-10) certification, and the National Center for Construction Education & Research construction and safety certification. A “field day” is held after the course to showcase the students’ skills to potential employers on eight types of heavy construction equipment (grader, loader, dozer, large and small excavator, skid steer, forklift, and water truck).

In Alabama, FHWA worked with firms and the community college system to create a modular highway construction curriculum. The class includes basic math, written and interpersonal skills, the OSHA-10 certification, and other more advanced skills. The course culminates by connecting graduates to construction firms for job interviews.

Everyone wins when highway construction jobs are filled. Workers find a stable, satisfying career and the Nation has the infrastructure it needs to thrive. Bobo sees this EDC-6 initiative not only as a technical exercise, but as a societal effort.

“Quality construction jobs are productive on so many levels,” Bobo said. “A sustainable career can break cycles of poverty and set families on new paths to success. Of course, those jobs build and maintain one of our national treasures, the highway system. It is exciting to think about what we can do together over the next couple years.”