Every construction company knows about the drastic shortage of skilled labor entering the market. Numerous polls cite this shortage as the number one or two concern among contractors, builders, and owners.
Labor demands persist; the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics forecasts a 5% higher-than-average demand for construction labor until at least 2029.
Workrise, an industry disrupter, offers a workforce management solution that pairs companies with skilled laborers in their respective fields. They have recently broken the $300 million mark in raising capital for construction labor management. The Series E round attracted investors from Baillie Giffor, Franklin Templeton, Founders Fund, Bedrock Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Moore Strategic Ventures, 137 Ventures, and Brookfield Growth partners. These investment funds already show profits from the construction workforce industry.
Formerly known as Rig Up, once an oil and gas industry company, Workrise expanded into renewables, including sun, wind, and solar. They also do business in commercial real estate and defense construction. In anticipation of a boom in non-residential construction projects, Workrise aims to have 100,000 trained workers by the end of 2023 and one million workers by 2030.
Workrise maintains that more workers mean lower production costs. In addition, they intend to go beyond traditional construction role training; Workrise wants to train laborers for future construction roles, including modular home building and alternative materials expertise.
Workrise, currently valued at $2.9 billion, operates in 70 cities. If they hit their 2030 goal of training one million workers, their expansion could reach many more areas in the coming decade.