Acknowledgements
This study was produced by Port Jobs with funding support from the Northwest Area Foundation, the City of Seattle and the Port of Seattle.
To comment or receive more information about apprentice utilization policies, contact Bronwyn Mauldin at Port Jobs,206-728-3883, or mauldin.b@portseattle.org. Port Jobs brings together business, labor, government, education and the community to help women, people of color, people with disabilities and the economically disadvantaged gain access to livable wage jobs in the Port-related economy
Executive Summary
Since 1993, the City of Seattle, King
County and Port of Seattle have had policies to encourage their construction
contractors to hire more apprentices to work on their projects. Port Jobs and its
Apprenticeship Opportunities Project (AOP) work with government agencies,
unions, training providers, community-based organizations and private
businesses to increase apprenticeship opportunities in King County. Since 1997 eight different private
developers have voluntarily signed onto these apprentice utilization policies
for their own projects.
Every year Port Jobs collects data from all of
the public and private sponsors with apprentice utilization goals and compiles
a report on how they fared. This 1999
report is the fourth in the ongoing series.
In 1999 the number of projects covered by
apprentice utilization policies increased from the previous year, while the
total number of hours covered decreased, to just over 2.9 million hours. The share of those hours worked by
apprentices once again increased, to fourteen percent of the total, or 411,678
hours.
Diversity in the apprentice hours increased in 1999 for minorities, as has happened every year since apprentice utilization policies were enacted, to a full 28% of all apprentice hours. In a notable improvement, minority women worked the largest share of apprentice hours under the goals that they have since the inception of the policies. However, at 5.2% they still make up only a very small fraction of the total apprentice hours. At the same time, minority hours at the journey level declined from 1998 to 1999. Participation by women decreased at both the apprentice and journey level.
AOP successfully referred 95 people to apprenticeships in 1999 and placed an additional 25 in trades-related family wage jobs. 38% of them were women, and 63% were minorities. Minority women made up almost 21% of all of AOP’s referrals and placements in 1999.
With several large projects underway, demand for construction labor is expected to continue into the near future. At the same time, early results from the 2000 census indicate that the King County labor market has become increasingly diverse. In order to meet that labor demand in a way that ensures full opportunity for disadvantaged and non-traditional populations, we recommend that stakeholders in the apprenticeship system:
· Make a greater effort to reach non-traditional labor markets, including women, immigrants and youth;
· Pay closer attention to journey level workforce diversity; and
· Invest in adequate apprentice training facilities.
Introduction
How will the construction industry meet its need for skilled workers as the central Puget Sound building boom continues? Are there enough apprentices in the pipeline to ensure there will be enough journey level workers in the future? Do disadvantaged communities and non-traditional labor markets know about and have access to the living wage career opportunities available in the trades?
Since 1993 Port Jobs and its Apprenticeship Opportunities Project (AOP) have been working with government agencies, unions, training providers, community-based organizations and private businesses to increase apprenticeship opportunities in King County, particularly for women, minorities and the economically disadvantaged. This work is done in two ways. First are apprentice utilization policies, which local governments require of contractors on certain projects, and private developers agree to voluntarily. These policies create goals of having a certain share of the labor hours on construction projects worked by apprentices, and a specified part of that share worked by groups traditionally underrepresented in the trades – women and minorities. Second, AOP provides assistance to women, minorities and low income people to help them enter and succeed in building and construction trades apprenticeship programs.
Changes in the labor market are changing the face of construction. Immigrants make up a larger share of the national and regional labor market. Women and minorities are increasingly aware of and interested in opportunities in the building and construction trades. As the labor market has grown increasingly diverse, apprenticeship programs have begun to look to those new communities to meet their labor demand.
This 1999 report is the fourth in an annual series from the Port Jobs on the impact of apprentice utilization polices in King County. Regular readers of this report will find it refreshingly short – we’ve condensed the verbiage, while providing the data necessary to determine the impact of apprentice utilization policies in King County.
The report begins with a history of apprentice utilization policies since their inception in 1994. This is followed by the data: the impact of apprentice utilization policies in 1999, and a report on AOP’s referrals to apprenticeship programs that year. Next is a discussion of larger issues related to the construction labor market: continued demand projected for the industry and growing diversity in the labor market. Analysis of the data follows, and the report concludes with recommendations on how those in the apprenticeship system can continue to improve on apprentice opportunities and increase diversity within the construction workforce.
History of apprentice utilization policies since 1994
Apprentice utilization policies were initiated to meet three main objectives:
- Increase the number of apprenticeship opportunities in King County;
- Help women and minorities gain access to these living wage career opportunities; and
- Develop a highly skilled, diverse workforce capable of meeting demand for skilled labor in the region.
Between 1993 and 1997 the Port of Seattle, City of Seattle and King County passed apprentice utilization policies. These policies required that contractors performing construction work on any projects valued at $1 million or more hire apprentices to work at least 15% of the total labor hours on that project. Within that 15%, each jurisdiction set requirements for the share of hours that should be worked by women and minorities, generally between 10% and 20%. In 1997, the Public Facilities District, a public-private partnership, signed onto apprentice utilization goals for Safeco Field.
Also in 1997, the first private developers in King County voluntarily signed onto apprentice and diversity goals. In 1999 those developers included Vulcan Northwest, Starwood Lodging, Cancer Care Alliance, Summit at First Hill, Carpenter’s Tower and Harbor Properties. Table 1 below shows the different diversity goals for each partner.
The State of Washington joined the ranks of public entities with apprentice utilization policies in early 2000. The policy is being phased in over 4 years. From mid-2000 through 2002 on state-awarded contracts in departments under the governor’s authority that are valued at more than $2 million, apprentices must work 10% of the labor hours. In the final phase in 2004, 15% of all labor hours on state projects valued at $1 million or more should be worked by apprentices. (Because public school construction is administered by a different agency, those projects will not be covered by apprentice utilization policies.) The voluntary diversity goals on all projects are 20% for minorities and 15% for women.
A note on methods
All of the data included in each Apprentice Utilization report is reported by the sponsoring agency or company directly to Port JOBS. All sponsors provide statistics on the share of hours worked by apprentices and those worked by journey level workers, and report on the share of apprentice hours worked by women and minorities. Many sponsors provide detailed diversity information by race, but not all of them do. Further, some sponsors do not report diversity data on their journey level hours.
In calculating diversity statistics for journey level and combined labor hours, Port Jobs omits from the total those sponsors that do not report them. For example, in Appendix 2, the total number of journey level hours worked on all projects is 2,932,074 but the total number of journey hours worked on projects where sponsors reported diversity data is 2,673,945. The journey and overall diversity figures shown reflect only those projects that report their journey level diversity, the lower number. Otherwise, projects that do not report diversity would cause the total figures to understate the journey and combined hours worked by women and minorities overall.
Impact of apprentice utilization policies on King County in 1999
In 1999, more than 2.9 million hours of construction labor were covered by public and private apprentice utilization policies, on projects valued at just over $1.5 billion. As shown in Table 2, 14% of that, or 411,678 hours, was worked by apprentices. Of those apprentice hours, minorities worked 28%, women worked 14.1%, and minority women worked 5.2%.
In 1999, overall apprentice utilization continued its upward swing for the second year. The share of apprentice hours worked by minorities increased, as has happened every year since these policies were introduced. Table 3 shows that in a positive reversal of past trends, the number of apprentice hours worked by minority women increased from 1998. In fact, the share of hours worked by minority women is at the highest point since the introduction of apprentice utilization policies.
As has happened every year since inception of the policies, nearly every sponsor met its goals for minority apprentice labor participation, but most fell short of their goals on women participation.
Table 3 also shows that the decreased participation by women happened at the apprentice and journey level, although it was much more pronounced among journey level workers. As explained earlier, this data does not include all sponsors, which may cause a self-selection bias in the figures. However, it is clear that among those sponsors who do report diversity among their journey level workforce, that diversity did decrease in 1999.
Hours worked by each apprentice on a job appear to be increasing. Table 4 shows a running cumulative total for
all hours worked since the policy was first introduced. In 1997, apprentices were working an average
of 261 hours each on covered hours. By
1999, the overall hours worked by apprentices increased to 325. Only those partners that report the number
of apprentices working on their projects are included in the total. This year, the City of Seattle’s 1999 hours
were added, as were hours for Vulcan Northwest’s Football Stadium, Starwood
Lodging and the Carpenter’s Tower.
What is not evident from the chart is how one large, multiyear project can provide individual apprentices with significant hours of training. At the Football Stadium in 1999, 84 apprentices worked a total of 48,344 hours, for an average of 576 hours each.
AOP Referrals in 1999
The Apprenticeship Opportunities Project (AOP) works to increase the representation of target populations in the building and construction trades. Community-based organizations recruit participants and training providers offer pre-apprenticeship training. AOP screens and assesses participants, providing them with referrals to apprenticeship programs and job search assistance, as well as support and retention services.
From its establishment in 1993 through the end of 1999, AOP had helped place 553 economically disadvantaged people in apprenticeships and other family wage trades-related jobs. More than 400 of those individuals were referred to apprenticeships in 26 building and construction trades. The average starting wage for AOP placements in 1999 was $13.26 per hour.
In 1999, AOP referred 95 people to apprenticeships and placed 25 in trades-related jobs. 38% of them (45) were women, and 63% (76) were minorities. Nearly 21% of all of AOP’s referrals and placements that year were minority women. One-third of AOP’s referrals were African American, and almost another third were Asian American, Hispanic or Native American.
Larger issues: Continued growth in construction, Changes in the
labor market
Demand for construction labor continues to run high. In the fourth quarter of 2000, 4 million square feet of office space were under construction in Seattle alone. The Washington State Employment Security Department estimates that in 1999 there were a total of 62,000 construction jobs in King County alone, up from 47,400 in 1996.[1] There were a total of 96,300 total construction jobs in Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish Counties. With work commencing on Sound Transit, as well as Sea-Tac Airport’s third runway and terminal improvements, construction labor demand is projected to continue to grow into the near future. This construction boom is likely to last longer than the usual in the construction boom-bust cycle. That fact, combined with increasing retirements in an aging workforce, means that demand for new apprentices will continue to rise as well.
While overall construction demand increases demand for apprentices to meet overall labor needs, apprentice utilization goals specifically increase demand for those construction workers still in training. Both Sound Transit and the airport construction projects have apprentice utilization and diversity goals. In 2000, Immunex became the latest private developer to sign onto apprentice utilization goals, for the building of their forthcoming waterfront facility in Seattle.
The Governor’s executive order on apprentice utilization may increase demand for apprentices statewide as well. While this will ensure that more apprentices have adequate work to complete their programs on time, it also means that construction projects in other parts of the state may become magnets for apprentices trained in King County, especially among programs serving a wider geographical base. At the same time, if more work is available for apprentices elsewhere in the state, some people may choose to enter apprenticeship programs in other Washington regions. This could relieve some of the pressure on King County apprenticeship programs, which are already bursting at the seams.
The annual number of entrants into twenty King County building and construction trades more than doubled from 1995 to 1999, as shown in Table 5.
If this growth continues at the same pace into the next five years, these programs could see as many as 7,500 new apprentices indentured in 2005. Already, apprenticeship programs are feeling the physical pinch of trying to train twice as many new apprentices in the same amount of space. Several have moved into new locations, and others are looking for funding to pay for their own improvements or moves.
Early results from the 2000 census indicate that minorities make up a larger share of the population of the U.S., and of Washington state in particular. In fact, diversity in Washington has increased faster than other states, and faster than the U.S. as a whole. A growing number of immigrants are moving to King County; in each year from 1992 to 1996 (most recent data available) more than 8,000 immigrants living in the county were granted permanent resident status. All of this means that minorities and immigrants make up a larger portion of the King County labor market than ever before. Employers in all sectors including construction need to recognize that the labor market they draw from may look different and have a different set of barriers to employment compared to earlier labor markets. Changes to construction recruitment and retention strategies may be needed for this group to gain access to and succeed in the skilled building trades.
Analysis
Three facts in the 1999 data stand out, warranting greater analysis. First, while the share of hours worked by minority women apprentices reached its highest level yet, the share of hours worked by women overall continued to fall. Second, diversity at the journey level fell for both minorities and women. Third, this happened in a year when the total number of hours covered by apprentice utilization policies decreased from the previous year by 582,079, or 17%.
Increase in participation
by minority women apprentices; decrease for women overall One of the most promising figures in this 1999 report is the increase in
the hours worked by minority women apprentices. Minority women apprentices increased their share of hours from
4.1% of the total in 1998 to 5.2% in 1999.
Not only that, but this is the largest percentage of hours worked by
minority women under the apprentice utilization policies since they were
introduced.
However, the numbers are still far too low. At this level, it only takes one or two minority women to be hired (or not hired) to work on a single job to make a statistical difference for not only that particular contractor, but for the overall numbers. This figure will continue to be tracked to determine whether this year’s increase in minority women participation is a one-time anomaly or part of an improving trend.
The continued decline in the share of both apprentice and journey hours worked by women on projects covered by apprentice utilization policies is of significant concern. The problem is greatest at the journey level, where only 6% of those hours were worked by women. Overall, only 7% of the total hours were worked by women. Again, at such low percentages a contractor would only need to add one or two women at a single worksite to show a notable increase in the share of hours worked.
With minority participation increasing and women’s participation decreasing at the apprentice level, it appears that the construction community, from apprenticeship programs to contractors to unions, has still not developed good recruiting mechanisms to attract women and keep them in the trades. In order to meet their need for labor in good economic times with their traditional labor markets depleted, the apprenticeship programs need to create new, appropriate methods to recruit women, and find ways to overcome barriers to their entry.
Decrease in diversity at the journey level For the first time since apprentice utilization policies were enacted, the share of hours worked by minority journey level workers declined in 1999. This combined with the continued drop in participation by journey level women construction workers means that the overall diversity of the journey level workforce fell. These facts contradict what might reasonably be expected – that over time the increasing diversity at the apprentice level should translate into increasing diversity at the journey level. Why is this not happening?
In 2000, Port Jobs completed a study on the diversity of those who entered six King County apprenticeships between 1992 and 1998, and how they fared once in the program.[2] That study found that women and minorities who entered between 1992 and 1994 tended to complete their programs and journey out at about the same rate as men and whites. This suggests that the reduction in journey level diversity is not caused by lower rates of apprenticeship program completion for those groups.
This raises the important question of what happens to those apprentices once they journey out. Do women and minorities have a harder time getting work than other journey level construction workers? Do they leave the construction field? Are contractors not paying adequate attention to diversity at the journey level?
Decrease in apprentice and total hours While 1999 saw an
increase in the share of hours worked by apprentices, that was actually a
decrease in the total number of hours worked, both at the apprentice level and
overall. Apprentices worked a total of
411,678 hours in 1999. It might be
expected that if there were roughly the same number of women construction
workers available in 1999 as 1998, their share of the total hours worked should
have increased in 1999 rather than decreased.
If there are roughly the same number of minority journey level workers
from year to year and ever more increasing as they complete their
apprenticeship programs, then their share of the total hours would be expected
to rise. However, in both cases, they
shrank.
One possible explanation is that construction in King County and across Puget Sound that is not covered by the apprentice utilization policies may be using a large share of construction workers, including women and minorities. The City of Seattle’s Department of Design, Construction and Land Use issued a record $1.6 billion in permits in 1999, exceeding not only their 1998 permits but also the total for any year during the 1988-92 boom, even when adjusted for inflation. All of those projects draw from the larger construction workforce, and those without apprentice utilization policies compete with those that have them for the same workers. The decrease in journey level minority hours and women hours at the apprentice and journey levels may in fact indicate that there are still not enough of them in the construction workforce to meet total current needs.
Another explanation may be the shortage of facilities for
apprentice training in King County.
Since 1995, the number of new apprentices in the top twenty building and
construction trades has more than doubled.
The amount of space available for training apprentices has not increased
at the same rate. Many apprenticeship
program coordinators report that they have had to renovate existing facilities,
overload classes or rent additional space to accommodate the number of
apprentices they must train to meet labor demand. A few report that they have actually turned down qualified
applicants for whom there is work, simply because they lack the physical space
to train them.[3]
Recommendations
Demand for construction workers generally, and apprentices specifically, continues to grow, and is expected to into the near future. The information in this 1999 report suggests that success in diversifying the apprentice level workforce has not yet translated into increasing diversity at the journey level, and that women continue to be underutilized in construction. Therefore, we offer the following three recommendations.
Make a greater effort to reach non-traditional labor markets, with a continued focus on women It appears that there are not enough women in the trades, and not enough minority journey level workers available to meet current needs for them on worksites in the region. Without them, there will not be adequate labor to maintain the ongoing construction boom. Stakeholders in the construction industry need to make greater efforts to recruit from underutilized labor markets, such as women, immigrant communities and youth. These groups will probably have different barriers to entry into apprenticeship than the groups the apprenticeship programs have succeeded with so far. However, they are likely to follow common patterns that could be addressed by specialized programs. For example, ANEW (Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Employment for Women and Men) offers a model demonstrating how barriers that prevent women and the economically disadvantaged from entering apprenticeship can be overcome. Moreover, ANEW’s clients are more likely to stick with their apprenticeship once they enter than the average apprentice.[4] Continued support for such training programs are an important key to both increasing the participation of women in construction and increasing the number of skilled tradespeople to meet labor demand.
In addition to funding proven successes, new models are also needed. In the same way that pre-apprenticeship programs help potential construction workers study toward their GED or get a suspended driver’s license back, English as a Second Language (ESL) could be integrated into pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship program curricula. The Painter’s apprenticeship now offers ESL to new apprentices who pass all other entry requirements except the English test. This model is one other apprenticeship programs could adapt to their own needs. Other models are available and should be explored.
Pay closer attention to journey level workforce diversity Greater attention should be paid to why diversity has decreased at the journey level, when an increase should be expected. Apprenticeship programs should look at how women and minorities fare in their programs, to determine whether they are dropping out at a higher rate. Are women and minority apprentices getting the same training in the program, or are they somehow less qualified than other apprentices when they journey out? Contractors, although they are not required to, should look at their own hiring practices at the journey level – perhaps the things they are doing to succeed in diversifying their apprentice workforce would also work at the journey level. Union hiring halls should review how they send journey workers out. Overall, a study of diversity at the journey level would be helpful to determine why it decreased in 1999. At the very least, diversity at the journey level will be followed closely in future editions of this report to determine whether this was a temporary drop or an ongoing issue.
Invest in adequate apprentice training facilities In order to deliver the number of well-trained apprentices necessary to meet growing labor demand, apprenticeship programs must have adequate physical space and modern equipment similar to what they will use on the job. Right now, apprenticeship programs do not have enough space to train the number of apprentices needed to meet labor demand. Everyone who benefits from the apprenticeship system, including unions, contractors, educational institutions public agencies and private developers, needs to invest in those facilities. All of them benefit from having a strong supply of apprentice labor with top quality skills.
Summary
In 1999, apprentice utilization
policies continued to meet their goals of increasing the number of
apprenticeship opportunities, helping women and minorities gain access to those
living wage career opportunities, and developing a highly skilled, diverse
workforce. A growing number of public
and private partners signed onto the policies.
AOP played an important role in ensuring that economically disadvantaged
and traditionally underrepresented populations successfully made the link to
the building and construction trades.
The share of hours worked by
apprentices increased from 13.4% in 1998 to 14% in 1999. Also of particular note in 1999, minority
women experienced their highest share of labor hours since the policies were
initiated. Minorities overall continued
to grow as a share of the total apprentice workforce. However, the drop in the participation of journey level
minorities and women at the apprentice and journey level is of concern and requires
attention.
In addition to paying greater
attention to the participation of women and minority journey level workers,
stakeholders in the construction industry need to make a greater effort to
reach non-traditional labor markets.
This is necessary if they are to meet their labor needs in an era with
such low unemployment. Finally,
everyone who benefits from the apprenticeship system needs to invest in
adequate facilities to train the number of highly skilled construction workers
required to meet labor demand.
Despite concerns about the direction
the economy will take in 2001, the largest construction projects in the Puget
Sound region are expected to move forward as planned, creating significant
demand for construction labor.
Apprentice utilization policies and AOP will continue to play an
important role in ensuring that the opportunities created by the construction
boom will extend throughout King County.
Appendices
