Construction workers usually enter the construction industry right after completion of their high school studies. They have to undergo apprentice works and trainings for a number of trading crafts in constructing a building. Academic subjects and basic knowledge in Mathematics and Sciences must have possessed for a construction worker to succeed in its training and applied skills. There are also trainings in manual works, like in mechanical activities on drawing, drafting, woodworks, and many others to polish his skills in many areas. Furthermore, the typical apprentice training program ranges from two to five years for the different trades, apprentices must usually be at least 18 years old and in good physical condition. They are generally paid 50 percent of the experienced worker's rate at the beginning, and are advanced at intervals until they receive about 90 percent of the experienced worker's rate toward the end of the training period.
The force of general labor jobs in construction industry has brought a big impact to the whole economy. Most of the skilled individuals have landed to apply in this industry, which in turn a produce a great revenue for this type of investment. This adds more to the nation's wealth each year than any other industries. In fact, recalling back in previous years, with annual dollar volume estimated in the early 1990s at over $342 billion, construction accounts for approximately one tenth of the U.S annual gross national product. The largest repository for the savings of individuals, worker employment, and the capital investments of business is in the physical facilities built by the construction industry-homes, store ad buildings, mills and factories, highways and streets, bridges, railroads, airports, wharves and docks, pipelines, tunnels, dams, power plants, irrigation projects, public works, and defense installation. Whether it is the life savings of one family buying a home or the investments of many used, for instance, by an insurance company to finance the erection of a skyscraper for a business corporation, it all adds up to a substantial yearly increase in national wealth. The nation's banks, insurance companies, pension plans, and other financial institutions have a big stake in construction, for they finance most of it. In return, more construction jobs and related skills are being needed, not just in the United States, but to some parts of the globe. One for instance, is the Middle East booming construction projects- like in Dubai and Saudi Arabia. The importation of general labor jobs, including the skilled and technical workers are even imported from different countries. The rising construction of skyscrapers, its competition and pride from various nations of who can build the largest and tallest buildings have become a trend, nowadays.
Nevertheless, construction worker jobs continue to rise year after year because of such factors as gains in the number of construction investments, the increasing population of households, the increasing shift of families from the cities to the suburbs, and, at the same time, the revitalization of urban centers. Traffic congestion has brought demands almost everywhere for more and wider expressways, on the one hand, and on the other, for modernized mass-transit systems.
Urban renewal projects, expressways, and mass-transit systems all involve construction on an extensive scale. So do all other community needs for physical facilities. In addition, more demands are expected for many years to come. Although further technological improvements in construction methods and equipment may be expected to raise the productivity of workers, the volume of activity will require substantial number of craft workers jobs in the various building trades, mostly as replacements for those who retire or leave the labor force for other reasons.
Although prospects look promising, the construction industry which equips most of the individuals' labor careers, is very sensitive to the fluctuations in the national economy. Therefore, a downturn in the nation's economy could adversely affect labor employment and other job opportunities. Bureau of Labor Statistics studies indicate that, on the average, construction activity creates more demand for workers employment off-site. Such off-site work consists of all the tasks required to produce and fabricate materials and supplies and to transport these items from the job site. In considering the importance of construction to labor employment, it is essential to take into account the number of workers for whose jobs the industry is indirectly responsible, as well as direct employment. The overall industry was responsible for millions of general labor jobs worldwide.
