What does this trade look like?

- Laborers are kind of the front men and women on the job sites. So, they're typically on the job site from start to finish. They are often called the athletes of construction because they're moving pretty quickly on that job site. And they're hauling heavy things and they're using heavy equipment. So it's a very physical job. - We're basically generalists in a construction trade. We do over 100 different skill sets. - But most people, when they find out about what laborers do, what draws them to it is the diversity of what-- the scopes of work that we do. It's one of the widest scopes of work from all the others trades. - We start out with doing site prep, we do a lot of underground pipework, we do all the utilities underground. We also do dirt work or grading, doing grade checking with the GPS machine or Global Positioning System machine. - If you're working with the specialty contractor you could be doing concrete. That'll be your scope of work on that project. And you could be building a high rise building. You're going to be pouring fottings, foundations, all the way up through the top deck of the penthouse if it's a skyscraper. - We also do a lot of heavy highway work. We do bridge work. We do tunneling. They kind of consider us the marines of all the trades. We get dirty, we get in there, he get it done. - Our trade is really great, because not only are you building things like schools in your community and office buildings, and skyscrapers and all that. The infrastructure that we drive on everyday. But, we're also investing what we make in our communities, we live there, we have our homes, we send our children to the local schools, colleges, etcetera. - [Ivan] Well I think a lot of people don't understand how fun it can be. I enjoy working outside. I'm not a guy that really wants to stay stuck in an office. It would probably drive me crazy. So, there are people who have different personalities that would fit just right in with construction workers. - Right now is a super exciting time to get into the construction industry, just because the demand is so high. So, that means we have a lot of opportunities for people that are interested in learning our trade. The outlook for work in our industry right now is a growth rate of 25% through 2020. So, it's an amazing opportunity to get in and learn a skilled trade like ours. A big draw for apprenticeship programs and the construction laborers is the opportunity for a career path for well paying jobs. It's very high wage and it's long term career path. It's not just a job, it's a career. - I have apprentices that get on with some companies that are pushing six figures a year. And he just graduated two weeks ago. - For our program, the diversity rates for women and minorities is really one of the best in the industry. I think right now we're almost at 18% for women, which is phenomenal because industry wide it's like %9. Minorities make up about 42% of our trade. So, the diversity is definitely getting there but we're always working on it. We want people to come to our trade and it reflects who's out there in the work force, who's out there in the communities. And we really try to do that, so, I think it's a good place for women, minorities, anyone in general because we still are the brotherhood, the sisterhood and we don't just say that, I mean, you can feel it out on the job site, people have your back. I mean, I didn't think of construction when I was growing up. I didn't think I wanted to be a construction-craft laborer but the opportunity was there and I took it for financial reasons but once I got there I was like, "Wow, I wish I would have known "about this earlier." Just the opportunities that it gives you. Not just the wages, the great wages and, you know, the opportunity financially but the opportunity to expand and grow from there, it's amazing.