Workforce
NCCER, ABC Chiefs Throw Support Behind Meta’s America Workforce Academy
Tech company has pledged $115-million in scholarships, housing and travel assistance to recruit and train workers for craft careers
On the heels of Meta’s $115-million investment to fast-track recruiting and training more craftworkers amid an ongoing industry-wide labor shortage, Associated Builders and Contractors President and CEO Michael Bellaman and National Center for Construction Education and Research President and CEO Boyd Worsham say the tech company’s plan is a big step toward a better future for construction.
During an interview on the ENR Groundbreakers podcast, Bellaman and Worsham lauded the program—which includes training for craft careers including electrical, mechanical, plumbing, welding and fiber installation work—as the right move at the right time to feed the demands of artificial intelligence infrastructure development across the country. According to global research consulting firm McKinsey, AI infrastructure spending in the U.S. is expected to reach $6.7 trillion by 2030, fueled by data center project hyperscalers such as Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft and Meta.
“According to our analysis, we see a 350,000-person workforce [shortage] this year. It's been chronic. It's been going on for a while, and they're starting to see as they're trying to scale up in this race for AI, they're starting to see how it's affecting them,” explains Bellaman. As to why ABC came to be a partner with Meta in the workforce initiative, Bellaman says that “they needed workforce, so we began these conversations years ago. Meta, being a leader, said we got to do something about this, and and so they started exploring this option with us, and they made this investment.”
America's Workforce Academy will launch in Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas. Meta will cover some of the upfront costs that can be hurdles for those seeking to learn trade skills, including travel assistance, housing and living stipends.
Participants accepted into the program will receive a conditional job offer to work on one of Meta’s data center construction projects, such as the tech firm’s planned $27-billion data center in Louisiana’s Richland Parish. Participants will also earn credentials from the NCCER.
“If you think about this, this is not just good for the hyperscaler project. This is good for society,” says Worsham. “This is providing life-changing career opportunities to people that may not get those opportunities.”
For many program participants, “Some of these people will have never been on a construction project,” says Worsham. “Now they're going on the country's largest construction project.”
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When asked how ABC intends to ensure migrant workers feel confident taking advantage of the opportunity amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, Bellaman responded, “I think quite simply, if you are here in the United States, and you are here legally and you're permitted to work here legally—no problem.”
Bellaman says ABC is shoring up congressional support for bills such as the bipartisan Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act (H.R. 5494) to create a nonfarm H-2C temporary worker visa program and a more robust, legal work visa process to address severe workforce shortages.
“The H-2B visa system, for our industry, just doesn't work. The numbers don't make any sense. If it was in place 10 years ago, we wouldn't have a lot of the issues that we have today,” says Bellaman. “We are in a global competition, and and I think what's happening now is finally this country is realizing that a secret to the success of this country has been, and needs to be, and must be, and will be a key to our labor force, our workforce.”
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