Metro's implementation
Want to learn more about Metro's implementation? Read the documents presented to Council that outline the specific actions being taken.
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Greater Portland is growing and the high-wage construction industry is growing with it. There is an anticipated need for 15,000 new construction jobs in the next 10 years at a time when 20 percent of the region’s workforce is nearing retirement age.
Our shared challenge
There is a lack of diversity in the construction trades in greater Portland – especially across higher skilled construction occupations. People of color and women face multiple barriers in accessing and sustaining construction careers. The inconsistent nature of construction work, lack of career ladders at construction firms, and insufficient funding and resources for education, job training and support services are among the factors that limit career employment.
The path forward
To address these challenges, 16 public agencies met from July 2018 through August 2019 as the Public Owner Workgroup. With significant input from stakeholders, this group developed the Construction Career Pathways framework and toolkit, which outline seven critical strategies to provide reliable career pathways for people of color and women.
Metro will be working with additional jurisdictions to adopt the framework and build collaboration to increase the impact of these strategies throughout the region.
Metro role
Metro will partner with other public agencies, workforce investment boards, community based organizations, labor groups, and industry stakeholders to move the strategies in the framework forward. Metro will establish the Regional Collaboration Committee, as outlined in the framework, to review regional data, coordinate problem solving and identify strategic investments for into the workforce supply.
Metro has already:
- Conducted a comprehensive market study to build a shared understanding of opportunities and challenges facing people of color and women in the construction trades
- Convened stakeholders to develop an agreed-upon set of tools and policies for adoption by government partners.