Fall 2024
As the state struggles with a persistent skilled labor shortage, more companies are tapping into less conventional talent pools
By Katja Ridderbusch
When Darius King arrives at his current construction site for a mixed-use development in the southeast Atlanta neighborhood of Peoplestown, he focuses on the task at hand.
Wearing tinted glasses, a white construction helmet, and a safety vest, he walks up a hill to the brick-and-concrete structure surrounded by cranes, briefly talking to workers along the way. King is an assistant superintendent at C.D. Moody Construction, a Lithonia-based general contractor.
Not too far from the construction site, over two decades ago, King started a journey that led to a downward spiral: drug deals gone bad, life on the streets, and two stints in prison. Today, he enjoys going to his job every day. “To me, coming to work is freedom,” he says.
David Moody, King’s boss and founder and CEO of C.D. Moody, is thrilled to have an employee who “is happy, hardworking, and getting the job done.” It’s not a given in today’s labor market.
A HAND UP
With skilled labor in high demand, companies are increas- ingly looking into less conventional avenues of workforce development. According to the U.S. Chamber of Com- merce, Georgia has a more severe labor shortage than the country’s average—a worker shortage index of 0.54 per- cent, meaning there are 54 available workers for 100 jobs.
It’s become critical to “think about individuals who are not necessarily connected to the job market through traditional recruitment methods,” such as digital job boards, professional social media platforms, or college career counselors, says Tim Cairl, senior director of talent development at the Metro Atlanta Chamber.
In recent years, more companies have launched workforce initiatives targeting military veterans, retirees, legal immigrants, refugees, and formerly incarcerated individuals, as well as people with disabilities and developmental differences.
For example, Savannah-based Gulfstream Aerospace has long focused on hiring military veterans. And logistics provider UPS, with its global headquarters in Sandy Springs, has recently launched a management program that helps veterans transition from active duty to successful careers in the civilian world.
Construction is among the industries in most urgent need of skilled labor and leaders within that industry are tapping into nontraditional talent pools.
It’s not just a good thing to do—a compassionate gesture to check the corporate social responsibility box—it’s also good for business, says Jessica Lewis. She is the CEO of Mobu Enterprises, a construction company in metro Atlanta that builds residential and commercial structures out of shipping containers and is dedicated to green trades.
By betting on the success of people who are often overlooked in the labor market, “you create a more loyal and more confident workforce, and you have less attrition,” says Lewis. “You get people who actually want to work.”
Through its foundation, Mobu offers a workforce training program that focuses on veterans, legal immigrants, and previously incarcerated individuals. All three populations— albeit vastly different—are facing unique challenges accli- mating to society, and often, being accepted, says Lewis.
But all of them have transferable skills that benefit the company, she notes. Immigrants bring knowledge acquired in their country and are often tenacious in overcoming cultural barriers and improving their lifestyles.
Veterans tend to take a more methodical approach to problem-solving. Often, “our veterans teach our other employees from the civilian world how to be more disciplined at the workplace, like being punctual and professional,” says Lewis.
Many previously incarcerated individuals make highly motivated employees simply because they are grateful for a second chance, she says. According to data collected by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, there are about 4.6 million formerly incarcerated individuals in the state, which is the largest pool of nontraditional talent available to enter the workforce, followed by people with disabilities, seniors, military veterans, and refugees.
Construction contractors have long responded to the on- going labor shortage by removing barriers to employment and hiring job seekers with nonviolent criminal records.
Construction Ready is a Georgia nonprofit that helps people of all ages and backgrounds find jobs in the construction industry by providing free training and connecting graduates with potential employers. Most of the training is geared towards K–12 students and conducted in partnership with public schools. But the organization also provides direct training for adults, says President and CEO Scott Shelar.
During construction of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta about 10 years ago, Shelar realized that many adult Construction Ready students from the area had some type of misdemeanor or a felony, mainly drug charges. “That’s how we stumbled into it, and then we made it a focus of our mission,” he says.
Today, almost 60 percent of all Construction Ready’s adult graduates have a criminal record.
The direct training is a four-week course on construction basics, such as print reading and power tool handling. There’s a big focus on construction safety training, which includes a specialized forklift safety class, an OSHA 10- hour certification course created by the Department of Labor, as well as CPR and first aid.
At the end of the training, there’s a hiring fair— organized like a vocational speed-dating event—where employers meet graduates and often find their match. Among the companies in Construction Ready’s network are local, regional, and national industry powerhouses, including Holder Construction, JE Dunn, H.J. Russell & Company, and Brasfield & Gorrie.
FRESH STARTS, NEW CAREERS
Eight years ago, Darius King was standing at a street corner on Atlanta’s Bankhead Avenue, watching his friends working a drug deal, when a woman handed him a flyer promoting Construction Ready. He put the flyer in his car and forgot about it. Two weeks later, he picked it up, briefly reflected on it, and put in an application.
“At that point, I was constantly in and out of jail,” says King, 45. He was missing out on years of his life and spending time with seven kids and his fiancée. He had thought about leaving the streets, “but it’s difficult to correct your life when the world outcasts you,” he says.
For King, Construction Ready provided a ticket out. He went through the training and started working as a laborer for Hogan Construction. Within a year, he was promoted to assistant superintendent.
King thinks his time behind bars taught him skills that help him do his job today. “I can handle all mentalities, and I’m resilient,” he says. He often speaks with trainees and graduates at Construction Ready and shares his story. His main advice is “to be humble and keep learning.”
C.D. Moody, King’s current employer, is among the contractors who built Centennial Olympic Stadium, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s inter- national terminal, and the new Atlanta History Center.
Over the years, founder David Moody has hired several formerly incarcerated individuals. His motivation is deeply rooted in his own story. “I’m Black. I grew up in the 1960s. I know what it’s like to be judged,” he says. He remembers being a teenager who wondered if he’d get a fair chance.
Once he’s hired a formerly incarcerated individual, Moody says he doesn’t look at them any differently than his other employees. He doesn’t think “in terms of risk or reward, only in terms of work performance.”
SPECIALLY SKILLED
Ventures ATL is another employer that is finding the strongest work performances can come from unexpected sources. The Georgia nonprofit is a third-party provider of a wide range of data management services, including data entry, data stewardship, data cleaning, regulatory compliance, and project management.
At the organization’s fourth-floor offices in a nondescript concrete building in Sandy Springs, about 20 employees sit behind computer screens. Large windows look out on the morning traffic on I-285. Inside, the only sound is the gentle clicking of fingers on the keyboards, occasionally interrupted by a brief and muffled conversation.
One thing all team members have in common is they fall under the umbrella of neurodiversity. They have been di- agnosed with developmental differences like autism spec- trum disorder and attention deficit disorders, like ADHD.
“Our neurodiverse employees have specific skills and talents that are often overlooked in the traditional work setting,” says Ventures ATL Director of Operations Jordan Walsh. “Here, we use those to our advantage.”
Skills include visual thinking, attention to detail, and the ability to recognize patterns. “Our employees thrive at doing repetitive tasks, and they don’t get overwhelmed by large sets of data like I would,” comments Jordan.
The Autism Society of America and other advocacy organizations estimate that between 80 and 90 percent of people with developmental differences are unemployed or underemployed. However, in recent years, many tech-oriented companies, such as SAP, IBM, Salesforce, and Deloitte, have recognized the untapped potential of neurodiverse individuals and have targeted them for recruitment.
Kevin Thomas has been with Ventures ATL for almost six years. Originally from Peachtree City, the 29-year- old holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania and recently moved into an apartment across the street from the office. “So I never have an excuse to be late,” he says with a wry smile.
Thomas, who also has cerebral palsy, works on several data management projects. He organizes client files, oversees data input, and cleans up duplicate accounts. He says he’s gotten “pretty good at calculating how fast and efficiently I can meet a deadline for any given task.”
At Ventures ATL, interviews and onboarding are slightly different than the traditional corporate hiring process, says Walsh. Applicants apply through a website form. A background in computer science isn’t necessary, but some knowledge of Excel and other data management software is helpful. After an initial phone interview, applicants are invited for an in-person interview.
“Many neurodiverse individuals are uncomfortable in
interpersonal settings, so we start with a task challenge,” usually a computer-based mock-up of a work project, explains Walsh. The management team wants to make sure applicants can do the core job. “Then we can always help with the communication and the soft skills,” she says.
Yet after a while, many employees start to enjoy the social aspects that come with working in an office. Some team members meet for a weekly walk in Chastain Park, and on Friday mornings, employees share their plans for the weekend.
Thomas, who in his spare time writes film reviews where he favors genres like superheroes, comedy, and horror, hopes to work on a data management project with a movie producer one day. Given that Georgia is a major hub for the film industry, the idea is within the realm of possibility for Ventures ATL.
Ventures ATL’s mission is to create a situation where employees and clients equally benefit. “We don’t want businesses to hire us because it’s a feel-good story,” says Walsh. The company’s services are cost-effective, and prices are competitive with offshore rates. Most importantly, “our employees are really, really good at what they do,” she says.
As clients notice a rise in efficiency, Ventures ATL is set for growth. Next year, the organization plans to increase the team to more than 50 employees.
REDUCING BARRIERS
With growth comes higher demand for labor in the tech space, construction sector, and many other industries. “The need for talent isn’t going away, certainly not in the near future,” says Tim Cairl of the Metro Atlanta Chamber.
In response to the challenge, the Chamber has launched several talent development initiatives over the past years. One is the Connect to Work GA program, which targets
often overlooked groups of potential employees to find and train skilled logistics and warehouse workers.
The Chamber also organizes the ATL Talent Collaborative where employers from various industries share knowledge, experience, and best practices “on how to better match all these untapped talent populations to the roles that employers need to fill,” says Cairl.
For example, many companies have already adjusted their computer-assisted screening process so that applicants who have a misdemeanor or felony in their background don’t get automatically eliminated.
Nonprofit initiatives like the Georgia Justice Project help companies screen formerly incarcerated employees. They make sure the position the applicant is about to fill has no relation to the offense.
Georgia’s Second Chance Act, which passed in 2021, allows formerly incarcerated individuals to have certain misdemeanor and felony convictions erased from their record, making it easier to transition back into the workforce. To lower the risk and create an incentive to hire “second chancers,” the law also provides liability protection for employers.
Shelar of Construction Ready says there’s “a huge appetite to hire less conventional job seekers.” In construction, he says, “you’re just not going to make it on hiring people with clean backgrounds only.”
The organization’s one-year retention rate of formerly incarcerated graduates is slightly higher than average graduates: 75 percent compared to 70 percent.
Also, Shelar says, hiring individuals with a nonviolent criminal background is, for the most part, a triple win—for the employer, the employee, and for society, as integrating formerly incarcerated people into the workforce helps decrease the recidivism rate.
Darius King is proof that it can work. Some call him a success story, but he just enjoys going to work, he says, because going to work equals freedom and peace. “I’m not in trouble. I’m not running away from nobody,” he says. “I go to work. I come home. I can chill.”
Copyright: GaBiz Magazine / Katja Ridderbusch