Because the people who build Ohio are retiring faster than we are replacing them.
You already know the labor math. What follows is what the Building Trades bring to it, what the gap is costing your projects and your community, and three concrete things you can do about it that cost you almost nothing.
For every five tradespeople who retire, only two apprentices are training to fill their place.
The demand for construction workers has never been greater. Nationally, Associated Builders and Contractors puts the need at 349,000 net new workers in 2026 and 456,000 in 2027, on top of normal hiring and replacement.
In Ohio, the shortfall is immediate and specific. ABC of Ohio estimates the state is short 14,000 skilled construction workers in 2026 alone — and warns that without action, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure and data center projects face delays, higher costs and lost economic momentum. That assessment comes from the merit-shop association, not from us. On the size of the gap, there is no argument between us.
For anyone looking for a career worth having, that's an extraordinary opportunity. But the success of the Building Trades in Ohio depends on the active participation and support of educators, contractors and industry partners. Working together, we can close the skilled workforce gap and secure the future of the construction industry in this state.
Whether you're a seasoned industry veteran or a school guidance counselor looking for student resources, we invite you to join us in this work.
Together we can build a stronger and more prosperous Ohio.
They delay it and reprice it. That's the part that makes this everyone's problem rather than only the trades' problem.
ABC of Ohio names the constraint plainly: the biggest barrier to closing the gap is a severe shortage of qualified trade instructors in Ohio's high schools, career-technical centers and apprenticeship programs. We agree, and it's worth understanding why that matters.
You can't recruit your way out of an instructor shortage. Every additional apprentice needs someone credentialed to teach the classroom hours, someone to supervise the on-the-job hours, and a facility with the equipment to do it in. Recruitment without capacity produces waiting lists, not tradespeople.
This is where the building trades already carry weight. The joint apprenticeship training center system exists, is staffed, and is funded by the unions and their signatory contractors rather than by the public. Instructors come out of the crafts themselves. When demand rises, the capacity to meet it is already standing — and it costs the taxpayer nothing.
Recruitment is the easy half. Capacity is the half that takes twenty years to build, and we already built it.
We can raise awareness about careers in the trades. Without contractors and community leaders behind it, students and career changers still can't take the next step.
Official programs and offices worth knowing if you're building a pipeline in this state.
Ohio's registered apprenticeship office, under the Department of Job & Family Services — the state apprenticeship agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Council and its 14 member regional councils. Start here to reach the trades in your county.
The statute requiring Ohio school counselors serving grades 7–12 to train on construction career pathways at a working training center. Useful leverage in any school conversation.
Districts and ESCs can bring students to a JATC at no cost. Groups of 25 or more can have a session scheduled directly.
The gap won't close through a campaign. It closes when a contractor takes an extra apprentice, when a superintendent spends an afternoon in a classroom, and when a county commissioner puts a labor agreement on a public project. Tell us which one you're willing to do and we'll make it straightforward.