Laborer

Laborers are diversely skilled workers who build and repair roads, highways, bridges, sewers, and tunnels; construct buildings; clean up hazardous waste sites; and much more.  From small one day jobs to massive multi-year construction projects, laborers are involved in nearly every construction project.  They are typically employed on-site from the day a project begins until the day it is completed.  Among the tasks laborers do are drilling and blasting, erecting scaffolds, pipe laying, grade checking, cutting steel, operating power equipment, traffic control, and a variety of other jobs.  Laborers may work jointly with other crafts or independently on projects.

Laborers should enjoy working outside performing work which is physical in nature, but also requires specialized skills.  Laborers should master basic reading and math skills to read and interpret construction plans and to operate today’s increasingly high-tech input devices like GPS, robotic pipe cutters, etc.

To become a skilled productive laborer training is important. It can be acquired informally through “learning-by-working;” through vocational/technical schools; through unilaterally (management or labor) sponsored trainee programs; through registered, labor-management apprenticeship programs, or a combination of the above. It is generally accepted that the more formalized training programs give more comprehensive skill training. Recommended high school courses include English and basic math.