The message across the industry is clear: the trades are growing, wages are rising, and demand for skilled workers is strong.
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National Careers in Trades Week is a celebration of the workforce that builds everything. At Remarcable we want to celebrate and thank our customers, partners, employees and all of the tradespeople that make our industry a strong and thriving community. The message across the industry is clear and well-earned: the trades are growing, wages are rising, and demand for skilled workers has never been stronger. Construction employs 8.3 million workers in the United States, electrician jobs are projected to grow 9% over the next decade, and the industry needs an estimated 349,000 net new workers in 2026 alone.
But workforce growth brings operational complexity with it. Every new project adds materials to source, suppliers to coordinate, purchase orders to manage, and data to track across job sites. The industry has both a labor challenge and a systems challenge, and right now the systems are losing.
Every trade association, every apprenticeship program, and every employer in the industry is working to attract the next generation of tradespeople, and that work matters. But attracting talent is only half the equation. The contractors who retain that talent and put it to productive use are the ones with systems that actually work.
A new apprentice stepping onto a job site in 2026 should not be learning how to navigate five different supplier portals, decipher a purchasing spreadsheet that only one person understands, or make phone calls to track down order statuses. Today's workforce expects systems that are intuitive, accessible, and built for the speed of modern construction. When contractors modernize their operations, margins improve and they become more attractive employers.
92% of construction firms report difficulty finding qualified workers. Competitive wages help, but the firms winning that fight are also offering a work environment where skilled people spend their time on skilled work instead of paperwork.
Across NECA contractors, procurement remains one of the most fragmented parts of the business. Different branches operate in silos, purchasing decisions live in spreadsheets, emails, or paper trails, and supplier communication is inconsistent at best. All of this creates inefficiencies that slow teams down and introduce risk.
A foreman needs material and makes a phone call. A purchasing agent exports data from an estimating system into a spreadsheet and then emails it to a supplier. Pricing gets verified by spot-checking a small percentage of invoices because nobody has time to check them all. That works when you have 30 jobs running. It falls apart at 60.
"Traditionally, we would export out of our estimating system into an Excel spreadsheet and then email that out to our suppliers." -- Guarantee Electrical
"We were spending more time managing the procurement process than actually procuring materials." -- Collins Electrical
An estimated 41% of the current construction workforce is projected to retire by 2031. When those people leave, the institutional knowledge embedded in their spreadsheets and informal processes leaves with them.
Our work alongside NECA chapters across the country keeps reinforcing the same thing. The most successful electrical contractors hire great people and give them great tools to work with.
NECA is building the workforce of the future through apprenticeship programs, leadership training, and chapter-level education that reaches contractors at every stage of growth. Remarcable is focused on building the operational infrastructure that the workforce depends on.
By digitizing and standardizing procurement workflows, contractors gain:
The results show up in real numbers. Guarantee Electrical processes 120 purchase orders daily with just two purchasers. Collins Electrical reduced procurement time from two to three hours per cycle to 10 minutes. Interstates saved 14,000 to 15,000 hours over two years after adopting centralized procurement workflows.
"Rolling out software for the guys in the field is a big deal. It's usually a challenge if they have to learn something new. But this, we put it in their hands and they were like, 'Oh, I like this.'" -- Guarantee Electrical
When the next generation of electricians walks onto a job site, the tools they use should match the work they are being asked to do.
Together with NECA, Remarcable has been hosting lunch and learns, sponsoring chapter events, and providing thought leadership to NECA communities across the country. The focus is practical: helping contractors see what modern procurement looks like and understand how it fits into their operations.
NECA's commitment to workforce development extends beyond recruitment. Their workforce resources page houses career pathways, training programs, and entry points for anyone considering a career in the electrical trades. It is a valuable starting point for contractors looking to attract and develop the next generation.
Attracting new workers into the trades means showing them an industry worth joining. Keeping them means giving them tools worth using. The contractors who do both are the ones who grow.
National Careers in Trades Week is a reminder that the industry is scaling and growing. The question for contractors is whether their systems are ready to keep up with today’s challenges.
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Remarcable partners with NECA to host lunch and learns, sponsor events, and support thought leadership across chapters. To learn about upcoming events in your area, contact jerry.henry.3@remarcable.com.
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