Students’ first employment expectations in technology programs

Recent informal interviews of employers in western North Carolina (NC) indicate a current shortage of hourly craft, and professional management workers in the construction industry. The industrial advisory committee (IAC) at Western Carolina University of the Construction Management program have reported shortages of craftsmen and project managers to such a serious degree that they are not bidding on and refusing work where they anticipate a serious shortage of workers. The opportunity for these companies for profit growth is lost where workers are not available. Many companies are at a loss as to a course of action to replace retiring workers. Many state funded trade craftsmen programs across the country have been eliminated at vocational and technical colleges due to budgeting issues. Many parents of college age students are reluctant to recommend construction programs to their offspring due to the recent memories of the 2008 housing market crash and the subsequent declines in the construction industry. While administrators at the universities across the country typically do not manage vocational, two-year craftsmen programs, they often assist employers in their IACs with hiring and retaining new management level, project managers from their four-year programs by conveying the desires and expectations of their current classes of students to these employers. Employers may need to consider human resource related cultural changes in their companies to maximize potential profits. This paper discusses a pilot study which surveyed junior and senior construction management students at Western Carolina University to determine their expectations of the desired benefits in their first jobs after graduation. Many employers on the IAC at Western Carolina University believe the job expectations of new college graduates at universities where they recruit has changed in recent years, but they do not have any empirical data to support their hypothesis. This study is a first attempt to generate data to address these IAC members’ impressions. It is anticipated that a larger study including multiple universities will be needed to report new undergraduate expectations and the impact on employability in the construction industry.