CREJ - Journal

/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / MARCH 2015

Building the Next Generation of Superintendents

hile much has been discussed about the

skilled labor shortage affecting the con-

struction industry, an emerging trend

general contractors are facing is finding the next

generation of superintendent. As the captain of

the construction site, the superintendent is a leader,

communicator andmotivatorwhopossess hands-on

experience and conceptualizes the flow of activities

to get work scheduled and built in proper sequence.

Several factors are contributing to the industry’s dwin-

dling inventory of experienced and future superinten-

dents, including the aging workforce, talent migration

from construction to other industries during the recent

recession, and lack of trade schools in today’s K-12 edu-

cation.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau suggests that in

2016, one-third of the workforce will be 50 years old or

older. By 2020, 25 million baby boomers, who make up

more than 40 percent of the U.S. labor force, will retire.

Locally, more than 38 percent of construction workers

are older than 40; 14.2 percent are more than 50 years

old, according to the Colorado Department of Labor Re-

gional Workforce Investments Board.

These numbers imply that experienced superinten-

dents soon will leave the workforce, taking with them

a complex mix of experience and knowledge. Contrac-

tors must implement plans to slow the brain drain that

happens when experienced employees retire and the

younger generation is not yet equipped to handle job-

site complexities alone. While the drive and innate abil-

ities to become a superintendent remain constant from

generation to generation, the process and educational

path of current superintendents differs from that of fu-

ture project leaders.

The resume of a 30-year industry veteran likely dis-

plays a career path that started as a laborer and gained

hands-on experience as a carpenter, foreman and assis-

tant superintendent; perhaps there is an apprenticeship

program or an associate’s degree from a trade school.

The future superintendent typically has a four-year de-

gree in constructionmanagement and ismore comput-

er literate and formally educated in managing people

and processes while lacking field experience.

While neither career path is wrong, it is a shift in re-

sources and experience that contractorsmust proactive-

ly plan for through careful hiring andmentoring. Tech-

nologies, such as BIM, have vastly improved the process

of construction, but it still takes a “builder” mindset of a

Tim

Kretzschmar

Operations

Manager,

Swinerton

Builders

TRENDS

in Construction Workforce

Hands-on experience may be the missing link for a new generation of superintendents.