Building the Next Generation at GlassBuild
Reach, recruit and train glass industry workers
Labor, labor, labor. While high-interest-rate pressures, demand fluctuations, supply chain struggles and more have hit companies hard in recent years, it is labor that is the industry’s most persistent and painful challenge. In response, we at the National Glass Association (the publisher of Glass Magazine) are bringing the topic of labor center stage at GlassBuild America: The Glass, Window & Door Expo, Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.
Of course, addressing the ongoing labor shortage has been a key goal of GlassBuild education and programming in recent years. However, the 2024 event brings the topic even more into the spotlight, with a range of events and presentations designed to deliver immediately actionable strategies for attendees to bring back to their companies, focusing on reaching, recruiting and training the next generation of glass industry workers.
Three highlights
1. Workforce Development Day at the Main Stage
The Main Stage theater is back at the GlassBuild show floor, with day two (Oct. 1) programming focused on labor. Leading the day’s program is a keynote on “Building the Next Generation” from Emily Pilloton-Lam, who is a designer, builder, educator, TED-talk veteran and driver for recruiting young people to jobs in construction.
Workforce Development Day also includes sessions on developing internal training programs, fostering opportunities through mentorship, building recovery-safe workplaces and leveraging your network for professional development. Sessions are open to all GlassBuild attendees.
2. Student groups at GlassBuild
GlassBuild 2024 will welcome groups of high school and trade school students, introducing young people to the glass industry directly. To quote my colleague Jenni Chase, NGA’s vice president of workforce development, “The labor shortage is not a problem that’s going to solve itself. It’s up to us, as an industry, to take action. To tell our story. To let people who’ve never heard the word ‘glazier’ or ‘fabricator’ know about the careers available to them.” Bringing students to the industry’s largest North American event provides a key opportunity to demonstrate the incredible career potential in glass, from the field to the plant.
Groups include a field trip of 40 to 50 STEM students from a local high school, and a group of students from a nearby trade school, who will tour the show floor and participate in applicable Main Stage sessions.
3. Recruiting in high schools at the Glazing Executives Forum
The Glazing Executives Forum, held Sept. 30 in conjunction with GlassBuild, will include an Effective Recruitment Strategies workshop. Attendees to the workshop—one of three concurrent tracks at the forum—will leave with immediately actionable take-home strategies and tools for recruiting new employees and building up the next generation of glaziers.
The session will be led by NGA’s Jenni Chase, and Dan and Jodi Martinez, president and vice president of AllStar Glass. Attendees will learn how to recruit at technical schools and high schools, and via social media. Participants will come away with a recruitment tool kit, including stickers, postcards and a copy of NGA’s new resource, A Guide to Recruiting at High School Career Fairs.
4. Labor-saving product and equipment solutions
GlassBuild exhibitors are also keenly focused on helping customers address their ongoing labor challenges with new product and equipment offerings, on display on the trade show floor. See all the GlassBuild Products, as well as our GlassBuild Preview, which includes everything from lifting devices that cut down on the number of required installers to automated equipment that allows for more efficient fabrication with fewer plant personnel. Visit glassbuild.com to learn more and register.
