91视频

At least 80 planned public projects worth nearly $7 billion will require 14,000 construction workers over the next several years, Metro learned from a 2018 study assessing the region鈥檚 construction workforce.

Metro, Worksystems Inc. and the city of Portland commissioned the Regional Workforce Market Study, which focused exclusively on public projects worth more than $15 million, to explore how to leverage public dollars to create job opportunities for people of color and women to better understand the challenges they face in the construction trades.

鈥淚t was a deeper dive into the experiences of diverse workers who are attempting to step into the sector,鈥� said Raahi Reddy, Metro鈥檚 diversity, equity and inclusion program manager. 鈥淲e know the Portland area is facing a huge shortage of construction workers. On top of that, we know that for women and people of color the retention rates are 38 percent and 36 percent.鈥�

The study also highlighted some of the bullying and harassment that happens on jobsites in a male-dominated industry that traditionally has not been welcoming to people of color and women, she said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been that way for a long time and it鈥檚 just sort of accepted that that鈥檚 construction,鈥� Reddy said. 鈥淲e know that if we want to impact retention rates then we have to impact culture. We lose about $10,000 worth of workforce investment per apprentice who does not make it through the first year of their apprenticeship, so from the business case it benefits us to make sure they finish their first year and make those investments go really far.鈥�

The market study is guiding 16 public agencies as they work together to develop tools and policies that create inclusive and promising career paths in construction. Community-based organizations, pre-apprenticeship training programs, industry groups, minority contractors and trade unions gave input to the work group based on their perspectives and experiences. By this fall, the public agencies expect to finalize a shared policy framework that will guide future projects.

Another part of Metro鈥檚 DEI initiatives is the Construction Career Pathways Project, through which it is partnering with other public agencies, the region鈥檚 workforce investment board, community-based organizations and labor groups. Reddy said Metro looked at similar programs in Seattle and Los Angeles, and Portland鈥檚 effort has one significant difference.

鈥淭he difference in Portland that we鈥檙e really proud of is that we started out with an alliance of multiple agencies first,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is really a very ambitious effort and that鈥檚 what C2P2 set out to do, to bring an alliance of agencies together to meet common goals.鈥�