The past two years have been a lot of things, but among them few can deny that they have been eye opening, especially in the world of employment. We’ve seen how government subsidies and direct payouts to American Citizens has led to droves of resignations. In some cases, people have been outright lazy, but in most cases people have taken the shock value of the global pandemic to re-evaluate their skills and set sights on new opportunities. Your Home improvement small business may have been affected by this, perhaps you were one of those people re-evaluating their lives and decided to start up a business of your own. Whatever the case may be, the job market is sure to affect your business whether it be in the near future or far off one and with Legislation already written and deliberations ongoing in congress America may very well see a refocusing of attention, money, and efforts on its aging infrastructure. This is where your business may be affected the most.
Biden’s proposed $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes $550 billion in new funding for roads, bridges, water and climate change mitigation. This means there will be a huge demand for the already slim population of tradespeople in the workforce. Moody's Analytics projects that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's peak labor force impact will occur in the fourth quarter of 2025, when there will be 872,000 more jobs as a result of the law. Of those jobs, about 461,000 are expected to be in construction; 227,000 in manufacturing; 75,000 in transportation and distribution; 35,000 in government; and 73,000 in other industries. Unfortunately for you and your small business, there doesn’t seem to be a very hefty pipeline of new tradesmen entering the workforce any time soon, meaning those juicy high paying jobs in the infrastructure world will definitely deplete the local market here in Orlando. That will cut into your bottom line. Small businesses will have to offer lucrative incentives or dangle higher wages in front of their skilled employees or risk losing them. So, what can you do to keep your company profitable and provide the kind of service renovating peoples homes that will keep your phone ringing off the hook?
One way to retain some skilled workers and bank on some Government funding is to start an apprenticeship program. This will keep your labor costs low while maintaining the quality of your services during times when finding skilled tradesmen is going to be a tough proposition. This is how your business can sponsor apprentices.
To start an apprenticeship program follow these steps:
Step 1: First visit fldoe.org/academics/career-adult-edu/apprenticeship-programs/what-is-apprenticeship.stml for more information on funding and apprentice acquisition specific to Florida.
Step 2: Decide on a program type and create a “work process schedule” (WPS) with your proposed job training (OJT) content and related technical instruction (RTI). You’ll use this in your application. Consider the skills you and supporting trainers can provide in your Orlando Business.
Step 3: Apply and register through USDOL or the Florida Apprenticeship Agency to become an official training provider.
Step 4: Apply for funding from both the federal and state government, business partners, and other available sponsors. Last year Governor Ron Desantis and Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran announced nearly $11 million in funding for the 2021 Pathways to Career Opportunities Grant and Apprenticeship State Expansion Grant recipients. Check out the following links for more information.
Step 5: Recruit education partners and assign competent trainers to support your apprentices.
Step 6: Recruit apprentices and offer enticing benefits or foster a good work environment in order to keep your apprentices after they successfully graduate your program.
Be on the lookout for an existing program and network your business may be able to participate in. Just fill out an employer acceptance agreement, to be added onto another group’s registration application.
Once you have an apprentice, you may ask yourself how much you should pay them. These are average wages for apprentices in America.
The average apprentice electrician salary is $38,000, equaling $730 per week.
The average landscaper’s apprentice salary is $30,000, which is $577 per week.
The average plumber apprentice salary is also $30,000, or $577 per week.
The average salary of an apprentice painter is around $28,000 per year, or $538 per week.
Now you have some information that can steer the future of your Orlando Small Business in the right direction. The government will eventually get an infrastructure plan in place, whether it's with this administration or the next, what are you going to do about it?
Keep working to make your customers happy with that beautiful home improvement in the Orlando Florida Area, but don't waste time on job site clean up. Let us Stand-To that hunk of junk that builds up while you work. Reach out to us at (407)439-1486 to tackle your job site clean ups with military precision.