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Power of People Annual Report for 2022

Transportation Workforce Development

Headshot of Headshot of Joe Conway

Director
Joe Conway

Acting Director
Joe Conway

joe.conway@dot.gov

Headshot of Headshot of Joe Conway

The Transportation Workforce Development group provides leadership and coordination on initiatives that develop and expand the Nation’s current and future transportation workforce. The team works with Federal, State, and local agencies, as well as industry organizations and academic institutions, on programs that seek to build awareness and interest in transportation career options. It also helps professionals build skills to take the next steps in their careers. Many programs place a particular emphasis on reaching women, minorities, and other disadvantaged groups

Increasing Outreach to Enhance Workforce Development

During 2022, the Every Day Counts-6 (EDC-6) Strategic Workforce Development (SWD) team hosted various in-person and virtual events to share ideas, lessons learned, best practices, and valuable resources to build stronger workforce development programs across the Nation.

  • A workshop in Arizona focused on diversity initiatives brought together six States to discuss various programs, challenges, and opportunities within their highway construction workforce programs.
  • A peer exchange on starting a Highway Construction Workforce Partnership (HCWP) brought together five States at different levels of implementation to share information on forming and managing local partnerships, recruiting a diverse group of trainees, and providing supportive services through the early stages of an HCWP.
  • A webinar on recruiting and retaining the highway construction workforce covered the importance of identifying employee needs to ensure construction workers and trainees get the encouragement, support, and training to lead successful careers. View the webinar recording.
  • A webinar on building partnerships to provide support services offered advice on teaming up with local organizations to provide community services, building a partnership approach, and sharing social lessons. View the webinar recording.
  • A workshop in North Carolina focused on evolving workforce programs for the future focused on developing innovative training methods. Six states shared best practices and answered questions to help increase workforce development efforts for attending States.

For more information on how to get involved or participate in an in-person or virtual event related to improving the highway construction workforce development in your State, contact Program Manager Chrisy Currier.

Workers at a worksite watching one person in safety gear climb onto heavy equipment. Strategic Workforce Development – Workshop in Arizona, July 2022
Source: FHWA
People in safety gear in a classroom setting. Strategic Workforce Development – Workshop in Arizona, July 2022
Source: FHWA
People gathered in the lobby of a building. Strategic Workforce Development – Workshop in North Carolina, September 2022
Source: FHWA
People gathered at a conference room table watching a man present something on a screen. Strategic Workforce Development – Workshop in North Carolina, September 2022
Source: FHWA

Leveraging the Strategic Workforce Development (SWD) Toolkit to Increase Workforce Development

Screenshot of the Every Day Counts 6: Strategic Workforce Development Toolkit web page.
View and download items in the SWD Toolkit.

The EDC-6 team offers the SWD Toolkit online to provide innovative resources, outreach materials, and strategies for States to learn about and enhance their workforce development programs to fill construction jobs that support the Nation’s highway system. The toolkit highlights best practices and success stories from the construction industry, government entities, and other partner organizations that have benefited from the HCWP.

Current information in the SWD Toolkit includes:

  • Introduction tools like fact sheets, speaking points, and contact information
  • Pilot profiles from successful States, cities, and workforce programs
  • Case studies on outreach, placement, support services, training, and working groups
  • Marketing posters, banners, flyers, and mailers to enhance workforce development promotions
  • Sample program establishment documents like project charters and agreements

The SWD Toolkit is regularly updated to feature new materials. Recent additions include a case study on the Texas ConnectU2Jobs program and metric factsheets from Idaho and Texas pilot programs. Check out new materials in collaboration with the United States Women’s Bureau—coming soon.


Strategic Workforce Development Toolkit Contents

Woman in hard hat speaking into a 2-way radio.
Source: Getty Images

SWD Introduction Tools:

Two people working on a road.
Source: Getty Images

Pilot Profiles:

Group of people posing together.
Source: FHWA

Case Studies:

Two men in hard hats working at a desk.
Source: Getty Images

Metrics:

HCWP Grant Program: Workforce Solutions Through Innovation

HCWP: Leveraging Partner Commitment for Success

Worker shortages and training demand driven by new technologies are major challenges facing highway contractors today. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, as many as 90 percent of highway contractors have difficulty finding qualified workers to fill available jobs.

The additional investment in highway infrastructure funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will result in an even greater challenge for contractors to find the workers they need. Increased investment means more projects and the need for more workers in an already tight national labor market with competition for skilled workers from other industries.

FHWA’s Highway Construction Workforce Partnership Grant Program (HCWP) is making an important contribution to highway industry workforce development through partnerships with transportation, education, and workforce development organization working groups at the State and local levels.

Working Group partners are numerous and include:

  • FHWA divisions
  • State departments of transportation (DOTs)
  • Associated General Contractors of America
  • American Road and Transportation Builders Association State chapters
  • State and local Workforce Development Boards
  • State departments of labor
  • Community colleges
  • Tribal representatives

HCWP Grants for Progress and Innovation

The HCWP grant recipients began program implementation in the first quarter of 2022. Twenty-one States applied for HCWP grants, with total requests of more than $8 million. With only $4 million in available funding, awards were made to eleven State DOTs. The HCWP grant recipients are developing impressive programs that reflect the diversity and scope of highway industry workforce development.

  • Alabama will provide training for truck drivers, heavy equipment operators, excavating and loading machine operators, and paving equipment operators.
  • Arizona’s Industry Readiness Program is a week-long introduction to highway construction careers that includes field trips, classroom instruction, and contractor engagement.
  • Colorado will use its highly successfully Central 70 workforce development model of strong partnerships for outreach, recruiting, training, placement, and supportive services that include individual job counseling.
  • Florida is training for high need trade jobs that target women, and racial and ethnic minorities, those unemployed and underemployed, and ex-offenders.
  • Idaho will provide a five-week construction skills and craft training program, including supportive services with a focus on minorities, women, and veterans.
  • Iowa is implementing a general construction knowledge training program to target skills training for women, minority groups, and other disadvantaged groups.
  • Massachusetts will provide career assistance to pre-apprentice vocational school students and adults, CDL Class B License training, and technical coursework in asphalt and soils.
  • New York is developing the workforce needed for a major improvement to I-81 that runs north-south through Syracuse and is developing a new “Pathways to Apprenticeship” pre-apprenticeship program.
  • Pennsylvania is expanding its “Future Road Builders” interactive computer program that explains highway construction careers, and the HCWP partners are working together to connect highway project needs to worker availability.
  • Texas is developing its “ConnectU2Jobs” that provides 18 to 24-year-old offenders with training opportunities, and a workforce development focus in rural Brazos County and the urban area of Dallas.
  • Wisconsin is focused on training and workforce development for minorities and women in southeast and south-central Wisconsin.

For more information, please visit the HCWP website.