Construction jobs funded through three historic infrastructure bills are expected to surpass the 19 million mark over the course of the next several years, according to a new report.
The National Skills Coalition and BlueGreen Alliance in a report titled Unprecedented Opportunity: Meeting the Workforce Demands of New Clean Energy, Manufacturing, and Infrastructure Investments is forecasting a $2 trillion federal investment in infrastructure projects within the decade.
That investment is coming out of the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act. Those three bills, forecasts the report, “will transform America’s physical landscape and our country’s workforce.”
Altogether, the measures are expected to create just under 3 million new jobs a year, says the report, noting that in construction the “occupations that will experience the most significant increases are laborers, operating engineers, electrical power-line installers and repairers.”
Just under 70% of the jobs created by the three bills will be available to “workers without a bachelor’s degree, compared to 59% of jobs in the entire U.S. workforce.”
Of the 48 defined occupations that will see the most growth, 21 have “relatively low entry requirements regarding a formal post-secondary education credential but have significant skill requirements requiring shorter-term and/or on-the-job training.”
Another 27 jobs have “significant entry requirements, which include some form of a post-secondary credential, related skills training, and/or apprenticeship.”
Breaking down the forecast job growth via the individual legislative acts, the report predicts that the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act will ultimately result in 8.8 million new jobs; while the Inflation Reduction Act will create 8.5 million jobs; and the CHIPS and Science Act will be good for 1.4 million jobs.
More specifically, nearly 81,000 new construction laborer jobs annually will be created, followed by 40,000 construction supervisors, and 34,500 electrical power installers and repairers.
The National Skills Coalition is based in Washington and promotes high-quality skills training, while the Blue Green Alliance, also in Washington, is focused on union and environmental issues.
By Garry Boulard
