In January, the Steel Erectors Association of America surveyed its members regarding the business challenges they face. More than 40 percent of those responding said that hiring issues are currently their biggest challenge and 37 percent of them believe hiring will continue to be a problem over the next three years.

Closely related to this issue is business growth, which is hindered by the inability to hire enough people with the right skills. More than 18 percent of member respondents currently face business growth challenges with that number expected to increase over the next three years. Meanwhile, having craft training in place to support new and existing personnel is the third biggest concern, although SEAA members feel their craft training needs will improve by 2024.

"SEAA has successfully been growing its Ironworker Craft Training program over the last eight years. We currently have nearly 30 members participating in the program with more joining all the time," said Geoff Kress, president of SEAA. "In addition, we have launched an aggressive video production schedule to create about 20 short training videos by the end of the year. These videos align with the SEAA/NCCER ironworker training curriculum."

In addition to SEAA's job board, which is free for members but available to anyone, SEAA will explore additional resources to assist members with hiring challenges, added Kress.

One noteworthy result of the survey — a whopping 74 percent of members who responded say they would recommend SEAA to a friend or colleague.

"SEAA provides critical networking and training resources for both open shop and union erectors, fabricators, and general contractors," said Jack Nix, membership committee chairman.

For more information, visit www.seaa.net.