Brendan Bechtel, chairman and CEO of Bechtel and chair of Business Roundtable’s CEO Infrastructure Committee, joined senior administration officials and business and labor leaders at the White House today to discuss how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law presents an opportunity to create and expand pathways to good jobs.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law opens up transformational infrastructure investment as well as access to economic and career opportunities for people across the United States,” Brendan said. “At Bechtel, we continue to partner on our projects with local communities, educational institutions, unions, NGOs, and state and federal agencies to organize apprenticeships and implement training and certification programs to strengthen our industry, better serve our customers, and offer new opportunities for our communities.”
During the meeting, Brendan applauded the Administration for its focus on expanding the talent pipeline for skilled craft professionals—a challenge the construction industry knows well.
Bechtel has built a range of training and apprenticeship programs to help with the shortage of skilled craft professionals. This includes programs focused on women and other underrepresented groups in the industry, including people of color and veterans, as well as workers who’ve been displaced by shifts in the economy. Additionally, Bechtel has developed strong partnerships, especially with unions, to recruit and train craft professionals in the communities where we operate.
Some of our partnerships and programs include:
Military to Project program
Bechtel has established the Military to Project program to open up opportunities for veterans and transitioning service members by supporting them in developing careers that apply their skillsin the construction industry. The program is designed to support individuals from the first day of training through to their integration onto projects, where they hone their craft trade.
Apprenticeship program
The Bechtel apprenticeship program has provided construction craft professionals, ranging from 50 to 200 apprentices at a time, the opportunity to get hands-on experience learning different skills needed to work as carpenters, electricians, pipefitters, and more. The skills are tailored to the needs of projects, so graduates can find jobs easily and make an impact on their projects from day one.
Onsite training
On most project sites, we offer onsite training for craft professionals to improve skills and for task-specific training, meeting project needs for pipefitters, electricians, ironworkers, insulators, rigging craft, and even for tower-climber workers in direct hire telecommunications work.