By Associated Builders and Contractors
On Nov. 5, Associated Builders and Contractors sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ahead of its Nov. 6 hearing, “Registered Apprenticeship: Scaling the Workforce for the Future.”
In the letter, ABC thanked the Committee for examining how apprenticeship and workforce development programs can help meet the nation’s growing demand for skilled construction workers. “Registered apprenticeships are one important part of a diverse workforce development ecosystem,” said Kristen Swearingen, ABC VP of government affairs. “But rigid structures and lengthy completion times discourage participation by employers and workers alike. Congress should modernize and expand the system to support all high-quality training models that successfully prepare Americans for rewarding construction careers.”
ABC’s 67 chapters educate craft, safety and management professionals using innovative and flexible learning models, such as just-in-time task training, competency-based progression and work-based learning. These talent development initiatives occur alongside ABC’s more than 450 federal and state government-registered apprenticeship programs, or GRAPs, that prepare American’s nationwide for safe and productive work in more than 20 occupations. Further, ABC members invested an estimated $1.6B in construction industry workforce development to upskill 1.3 million course attendees in 2023, including hundreds of GRAPs, independently administered by ABC member companies.
However, it is clear that, at current rates of participation and completion, federal and state GRAPs still fail to meet the construction industry’s short- and long-term skilled workforce development needs. According to an annual ABC analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data, ABC estimates that, in fiscal year 2024, 290,000 apprentices were enrolled in federal and state GRAPs that yielded fewer than 40,000 completers—well short of the 439,000 workers needed in 2025 alone.
ABC and its members’ investment in GRAPs is reflected by DoL data displaying significant growth in nonunion GRAPs between FY 2015 and FY 2024.
The DoL’s data presents five-year trend lines indicating stronger proportional growth in the number of nonunion GRAPs, apprentice participants and apprentice completers compared to union-affiliated GRAPs since FY 2019:
- In FY 2024, 84% of the construction industry’s GRAPs were nonunion providers. The number of nonunion GRAPs has grown by 25% since FY 2019, compared to a 7% decrease in union-affiliated GRAPs since FY 2019;
- Participants in nonunion GRAPs increased by 40.7% from FY 2019 to FY 2024, compared to 10.7% for union programs;
- Completers of nonunion GRAPs increased by 31.7% from FY 2019 to FY 2024, compared to 13.4% for union programs;
- In FY 2024, 29.74% of all construction industry GRAP participants were in nonunion programs.
Further, while construction unions represent just 10.3% of the U.S. construction workforce, they continue to operate a majority of the nation’s registered apprenticeship programs, accounting for roughly 69% of participants.
With this data in mind, ABC encouraged the committee to reject requirements that may limit opportunities for the many high-quality, industry-recognized programs that successfully train the majority of America’s construction workforce. A balanced approach that values all proven workforce development models—both union and nonunion—best ensures the construction industry can meet the nation’s growing needs. (Source)