The transition from military service to civilian life presents numerous challenges as, oftentimes, opportunities for employment are difficult to find. It also is difficult for servicemen and servicewomen to replicate the camaraderie and challenge present while serving in the military. However, the construction industry can be an outlet for transitioning military members and veterans to recapture the camaraderie, challenge, and rewarding work that is absent after they leave the services as well as provide a career path with limitless potential. While the construction industry is facing a labor shortage that is at a “crisis level”—with the Home Builders Institute (HBI) estimating 2.2 million additional positions are needed to be filled in the next three years—veterans represent an underrepresented group with the skills and work ethic to thrive in the sector.
Several industry organizations, including the Building Talent Foundation (BTF) and HBI, and home builders provide recruiting, training, and employment opportunities specifically for military veterans and transitioning service members.
Veterans Are the 'Best Candidates' for Construction Employment
For the BTF, an organization established by 20 leading home building companies to advance the education, training, and career progression of underrepresented groups and young people in the residential construction sector, the veteran community is an ideal fit for the construction industry. CEO Branka Minic says early on the organization identified transitioning military and veterans as an important group to engage with and help “transition into civilian careers in construction.”
“The veteran is a huge aspect of what we do and a huge demographic that we target to bring into the organization. That’s for multiple reasons, not just because the veteran community is very underrepresented in the construction industry, but also because veterans make some of the best workers that you can find,” says Jonathan Karg, a BTF engagement manager in the Knoxville, Tennessee, market and a Navy veteran.
Minic says a key to attracting more transitioning military members and veterans to the industry is to integrate across organizations and work collaboratively. To that end, the BTF has built in a translator to its JobsToBuild platform, allowing job seekers to translate skills and positions within the military to roles and skills relevant to jobs in civilian life. The tool also provides job seekers with local opportunities that fit their qualifications. Collaboration can also occur with the founding builders of the organization. Minic says Lennar’s job skills training program actively targets veterans who can engage in skills training to place them in jobs within the industry. BTF works with employers and hiring events to help graduates with career coaching, mentorship, interview tips, and job placement.
“The military provides very good training in all kinds of skills, but also in leadership. Being able to operate within a fast-paced environment, accountability, safety, and teamwork are very important within the construction industry for proper execution, and those are skills that are also developed while you do your service,” Minic says.
Karg says BTF looks for organizations that work with veterans in each of its individual local markets. In Knoxville, Karg works with organizations such as Veterans Serving Veterans, Yellow Ribbon Program, and American Job Centers as well as military bases, attempting to participate in transition courses for service members. For Ashi Alonza, a member of the Navy for seven years, connections with the Department of Defense’s SkillBridge program, the HBI, and BTF during her transitioning courses allowed her to be placed in a position with American Builders Supply as a manager trainee. Alonza says veterans are an “untapped group” by the construction industry, with many organizations unaware of how quickly and seamlessly the skill sets and experiences of veterans can be translated to a role in construction. Veterans, Alonza says, are used to jumping into jobs and learning on the fly, a skill that is very useful in the construction industry.
“I think it really just takes someone who actually understands what it’s like being in the military to fully grasp what type of knowledge and benefits we could bring to the company,” Alonza says. “We all get time management training, and we all get intense stress training as well, and I feel like that would be very beneficial for any company, especially in construction where time management is everything [and] budgeting is everything.”
Karg says the employers he works with are particularly interested in veterans because many bring strong work ethic, are quick learners, and can be fast-tracked to management positions. Minic says the leadership skills, in particular, of veterans are particularly valuable to employers.
“[Veterans] are not only good managers to get the project done, they are very good people managers,” Minic says. “They are mentors and role models so their teams are very successful. You not only get one great person, you get somebody who is a people builder.”
Karg says veterans provide value to companies beyond technical skills and leadership ability, allowing them to make an immediate impact on a company without an extensive construction background. Many veterans receive operational risk management training, first aid training, and OSHA certification, providing “secondary benefits” beyond meeting the job description, Karg says.
“The veteran community is very much underrepresented in the residential construction industry. The pure benefit of having somebody who is already trained and already has that mentality [is enormous],” Karg says. “We want to provide the best candidates possible, and the veteran community is just that; they are the best candidates possible.”
Combating the Labor Shortage
The HBI, an organization that trains skilled workers for the building industry, has two military-specific programs: a Transitioning Military Program and a Veterans Program. The Veterans Program, launched in 2012, offers active-duty military service members within 180 days of separation, as well as dependents and spouses, training, certification, and counsel on how to access opportunities and network within the construction industry.
The Transitioning Military Program was started in 2018 with the support of The Home Depot Foundation and features trades training programs located near 10 military bases across the country. Transitioning service members in each region served by an HBI training facility can participate in a cost-free 12-week program as part of the Department of Defense SkillBridge program. Approximately three-quarters of the training is hands-on, allowing students to learn in field-based exercises.
“One of the ways to [give back to veterans] is to ensure that when the transitioning military comes out, they have a skill that can give them purpose and a career path,” HBI CEO Ed Brady says. “In our case, they do a 12-week program to give them an electrical and carpentry certificate and a U.S. Department of Labor credential that is pre-apprenticeship that gives them an intro to the industry.”
Since the inception of the program in 2018, HBI has graduated over 2,550 military service members, spouses, dependents, and veterans and placed 89% of program graduates in industry jobs. To date in 2022, the program has had 792 enrollments, and 85% of graduates have been placed in industry jobs.
“So many of the transitioning military members want to become entrepreneurs, they want to run their own business, so learning that skill and trade and getting them into the industry has been a huge part of what we do, the soft skills as well as the training,” Brady says.
Given the current labor shortage and challenges filling roles facing the construction industry, Brady says working on behalf of underserved groups such as military members becomes even more important for HBI.
“[Service members] have more discipline, they have routines, they’ve matured, they understand how to take leadership and direction. They are very easy once they come out of the training that we provide to place in multiple different positions from management to trades.”
Brady says it is important for all employers, not just companies within the construction industry, to accept the difficulties that face transitioning military personnel. Through The Home Depot Foundation’s funding, the Transitioning Military Program provides no cost to soldiers, allowing them to retain their GI Bill money.
“It’s hugely important for us as a society to accept the responsibility that we have for these men and women that have served us and protected us, to give them the latitude to enter society in a productive way,” Brady says. “As a society, we need to continue that promotion of our servicemen and women into career paths.”
Beyond providing opportunities, Brady says it is important for employers to be cognizant of the resources and support transitioning military members may need once hired. Employers have a responsibility, Brady says, to provide environments for employees to succeed and care and mentorship for transitioning military members or veterans to thrive within their roles.
“As we are made up of many small mom-and-pop businesses [in the construction industry], we have to continue to educate our businesses and HBI members on how to recruit and how to find those people that are coming out of the military that have discipline and purpose,” Brady says. “The transitioning military is really important because it helps us provide that base of workforce that will advance and eventually be business owners and operators. The electricians that learned in Camp Pendleton (California) will be an electrical contractor one day. There is unlimited opportunity, [and] it’s an easy population to say this industry is for you.”
Veterans in the Voyager Program
Taylor Morrison piloted the Voyager Program, a paid, hands-on construction superintendent program, in 2021 to grow the builder’s superintendent base, combat the labor shortage, and introduce individuals from varying backgrounds to the construction industry. While the program was not introduced specifically for military veterans, each of the program’s first 28 graduates across three classes have been military veterans. Steve Evans, senior national training partner and head of the Voyager Program for Taylor Morrison, says the leadership experience, discipline, and drive cultivated in the military translates to the role of superintendent.
“It’s very easy, especially with the challenges we’re facing the past couple years, for someone to come in and throw up their hands. These folks that we’re dealing with from military backgrounds, they’re not wired that way. There’s no quit, and they just want to make it work,” Evans says. “As far as selling [the program] to [veterans], we say that you’ve got the drive, desire, and leadership skills. We can teach you how to build a house. It’s hard to teach somebody leadership skills, drive, desire, and grit.”
Taylor Morrison has tweaked the program since its introduction, transforming it from an eight-week, 60% classroom, 40% field work program to a six-week, 60% field work, 40% classroom program. Evans says the program provides a “ground-up” learning experience that immerses trainees in both the Taylor Morrison company culture and the home building process. Graduates from the three programs in Florida and Atlanta now work for the builder as superintendents and assistant superintendents in the Naples, Sarasota, Tampa, Atlanta, Raleigh, and Orlando metro markets.
“We assign [graduates] to mentors so they have somebody to lean on. The idea is they are not going to pick up 15 houses on their first day on the job,” Evans says. “We do have a graduated system for how to advance. They understand that metric and have a copy of it so they know what they need to accomplish to move from one stage to the next. Then the onus is placed on [graduates] for how far they want to go and what responsibilities they want to assume beyond their normal scope of work.”
Evans says the veterans that have graduated the program are ideal for the roles within the company because of their leadership skills, drive to succeed, and willingness to take on challenging situations. Additionally, the entry into the home building industry provides many veterans with team camaraderie that remind them of their time in the military. The group of separating military members and veterans, while extremely valuable employees to the construction industry, remains underrepresented. Evans says there is a responsibility for industry employers to provide opportunities for the servicemen and servicewomen who have sacrificed for their country.
“Here’s a group of men and women who have provided us with a service that we’re never going to be able to repay and have a skill set and problem-solving skills and refusal to stop and give up. They just want to learn the skill,” Evans says. “We didn’t start [the Voyager Program] to hire a bunch of military people. We did say let’s hire a bunch of people who have never done this before and shape them and build them as our own. We fell into this opportunity with these [veterans], and I’m glad we did.”
Evans says the success of military veterans through the Voyager Program is not a situation that is unique to Taylor Morrison. Military veterans, Evans says, are an underused labor market that can deliver exceptional results for any company willing to provide an opportunity.
