At current rates of participation and completion, federal and state government-registered apprenticeship programs (GRAPs) will fail to meet the construction industry’s short- and long-term skilled workforce needs, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of recently released U.S. Department of Labor data. ABC estimates that the industry’s federal and state GRAPs had about 250,000 apprentice participants and yielded just 40,000 to 45,000 completers in fiscal year 2023.
Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs is concerned that a proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Labor, overhauling regulations for all GRAP participants, providers, and state regulators is likely to exacerbate the industry’s skilled labor shortage.
Brubeck explains the “proposal will discourage employer participation in the GRAP system by needlessly adding more uncertainty and costs in the form of new recordkeeping and reporting requirements, while also eliminating flexible competency-based approaches to workforce development that attract apprentices and employers into the system.”
ABC plans to submit comments on the DOL’s proposal, and is soliciting feedback from ABC members.