BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - The construction industry continues to have trouble finding enough skilled workers.
A survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and Sage Construction and Real Estate found that 75 percent of construction firms plan on adding staff this year, yet 78 percent report they're having a hard time finding qualified workers to hire.
The Builders Association of the Twin Cities-Housing First Minnesota is hoping to help with the shortage. They held the Sixth Annual Housing Industry Career Fair at the Mall of America on Tuesday. More than 25 companies came out—hoping to fill more than 200 job openings.
"It just seems like you used to be able to put an ad out for help and you'd get 30 responses in a day if you put an ad out somewhere. Now, I can put ads out and not have anyone reply to it. It's crazy," said Jason Oman with remodeling company Minnesota Rusco.
Sara Navarro of St. Paul attended the career fair. She is currently enrolled in a construction training program at Goodwill-Easter Seals.
"Females get overlooked in the construction careers," Navarro said.
When Navarro graduates in April, she and some of her classmates want to start a female construction group.
When talking about the people who doubt women in construction, Navarro said, "People feeling like we can't do it, well we know we can do it."
Types of job openings at the career fair included carpenters, drywallers, painters, framers, electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, project management, estimators, sales, fork lift operators, field technicians, office operations, customer service, warehouse, administrative, accountants, truck drivers, interns and more.
More information on the participating companies and jobs can be found here.