Construction is booming in states like Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas.
Employment in the construction industry is booming across the country, increasing by more than 250,000 workers since last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Arizona is one of the states seeing the most growth and the Phoenix metro area alone has one of the highest employment rates in the construction industry in 2023, the BLS reported.
Austin McCabe, who worked as an electrician for about a year before losing his job, is one of many newcomers to the construction industry.
McCabe said he knew he wanted to do something with his hands and needed a job that would help him get his high school diploma and driver’s license, which initially brought him to Job Corps but eventually led him to his current job as a DPR construction apprentice.
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Austin McCabe worked for Job Corps before joining DPR Construction as an apprentice. (Sunny Tsai/Fox Business)
“I discovered Job Corps, which offers both,” McCabe said. “They give you training, make you finish your high school diploma, and give you a new driver’s license, which I still needed at the time.”
McCabe has completed a new partnership program between Job Corps and DPR Construction that gives people hands-on experience in the industry.
“I was still part of the Job Corps when I first joined DPR. So, it was a six-week prep period. Then DPR — they liked what I was doing when I was working [at Job Corps]“So they hired me full time,” he said.
DPR Construction and Job Corps launched their partnership program last year and are already preparing for a third class of construction workers.
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Two DPR Construction employees are working on site. (Sunny Tsai/Fox Business)
Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, was the fourth-largest-growing county in America last year, and is not only seeing population growth, but also a construction boom.
The Phoenix metro area is considered Electric Valley because a lot of new companies are moving to the area with a focus on “building a new industry,” said Gretchen Kinsella, president of DPR Construction’s Arizona business unit.
“There is no clear view of any shortage of needs in our industry when it comes to the professional and skilled workforce…and with all the work in the Valley, we are continuing to reach out and partner with organizations that support workforce development — Job Corps being one of those,” Kinsella said. .
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DPR Construction and Job Corps have been preparing for the third class of construction workers since launching the partnership program last year. (Sunny Tsai/Fox Business)
Kinsella specifically pointed to chip manufacturing, and the supply chain that comes with it, as a “great opportunity” for metro Phoenix.
Another great opportunity in the area, she said, is the ability to “introduce people to the trades and help them see that construction is a career that you can definitely succeed in.”
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The Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity estimates there will be about 40,000 new jobs and construction work within the state by 2031.
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