Infrastructure in US – Nearly 3 million infrastructure jobs will become vacant over the next decade

The need to invest in roads, rails, ports, power plants, and water facilities has emerged as a theme of Infrastructure Week 2016, particularly when it comes to the call for regional leadership and collaboration alongside federal efforts. Across all types of infrastructure, public and private leaders are looking to fill a growing investment gap across the country and accelerate repairs of aging assets that are crucial to long-term economic growth.

Focusing on these enormous physical needs, though, overlooks the 14.5 million workers, or one out of every 10 workers nationally, who operate, design, govern, and repair U.S. infrastructure. And much like the physical investment gap, nearly 3 million infrastructure jobs will become vacant over the next decade due to high turnover and an impending wave of retirements. This underscores the need to invest in infrastructure employment, too.

The bigger question, then, is how employers and workers alike develop the skills necessary to fill this looming infrastructure jobs gap. Our recent report on infrastructure skills – along with the accompanying Facebook Live video below – helps define the specific types of knowledge, tools, and training frequently required in these positions.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at How to fill infrastructure’s looming jobs gap | Brookings Institution