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Is there really a labor shortage in the trades? Yes, the USA labor shortage is not a myth but a painful reality for many employers. We’ve been discussing it at Skillwork frequently on our blog and podcast, The Skillwork Forum. 

If you’ve been applying for jobs in the trades without any luck, you may consider finding a job through a recruitment agency. But you probably have questions like, “Are employment agencies any good?” and “Are employment agencies worth it?”

How is the job market right now? Not great. What does the job market need right now? More workers. Currently, job openings grossly exceed the number of available workers, and the gap continues to widen. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there were 199,000 job openings in June 2022, which jumped to over 11.2 million just a month later—a 5,528% increase!

So, you need to hire a new employee, but you don’t have the internal resources to manage the recruitment process yourself. Or, maybe you’re a skilled worker on a short-term job that wrapped up, and now you’re looking for a new gig. In both circumstances, joining a recruitment agency is a great next step. 

In this episode, we interview Brett Hoogeveen, co-founder of BetterCulture—a product and technology company focused on making the world a better place to work. The topic of today’s conversation revolves around the question, “How important is culture in the workplace?”

You’re likely searching Google for “tradesmen in my area” and “tradesman staffing,” but no one seems to have any answers. If you’re an employer in the trades, no one has to tell you there’s a skilled labor shortage. Driven by the mass exodus of baby boomers, the number of skilled trades jobs in the United States is far outpacing the number of younger, qualified tradespeople able to fill them.