With a new exciting topic, we welcome you to this blog post. This time, we talk about the shortage of skilled workers in the construction industry. There is a lack of staff everywhere. Construction is no longer very interesting, especially for younger people. Therefore, it is necessary to rely on specialists from abroad.
Startup Courage
However, the problem of finding suitable people is the same as in Germany. Furthermore, there are language barriers, which can further complicate the whole thing. This is where our guest of today comes into play. Patrick Christ is one of the founders of Crafthunt: a dating app for the construction industry. In the following, we explain how it all works.
Patrick originally comes from the IT field, but worked for a window construction company during his studies. In addition to technical IT tasks, he supported the management, especially in such areas as process optimization and recruiting skilled workers.
After his graduation, he founded his first construction startup, Capmo, to support construction managers in efficient processes on the construction site. Here, he repeatedly encountered a shortage of skilled workers again. One of his current co-founders at Crafthunt asked him if he would like to start a new project. In mid-2022, the time had come and Crafthunt was launched.
Crafthunt
Due to the shortage of skilled workers, a site manager, for example, usually has many opportunities to find a new job. Therefore, Crafthunt offers companies the opportunity to present themselves as well as possible on their platform.
In company profiles, job seekers can find various employee benefits as well as information about the company culture. Is the company already working digitally on its construction sites? Does it support its employees with childcare? All of this is important.
- "That goes beyond the previous standard. Nowadays, in the war for skilled workers, you have to do more as an employer."
Construction and Project Management
Companies on Crafthunt are looking for skilled workers, especially in the field of construction and project management. What is special here is the way companies and skilled workers come together. Because there are no classic applications to employers. Here, companies apply to the respective skilled workers.
Registration as a specialist is anonymous. The process of contacting a company also leaves the identity of the applicant undisclosed until they are ready to reveal themselves. This gives professionals the opportunity to get to know their potential employer better before they decide to send off a real application and have interviews.
It is not only the anonymity of the employees on the platform that is special. The contact person behind the company profiles is not the HR department, but usually the head of the department or the senior management themselves. Who can you learn more about the company from than the boss himself/herself?
Foreign Skilled Workers
However, Crafthunt is not just a platform to find construction and project managers. Another area is addressing employees abroad. Again, the typical process of a dating app applies here.
- “We are making a match between a German company and a foreign skilled worker."
For example, if a company already employs some specialists from a certain country, it is worth looking for new employees in that country. After all, it is more convenient for foreign skilled workers to work in a company where they can talk to others or go out for a beer after work.
Potential new employees abroad are approached by job advertisements generated by AI, published on social media. However, the subsequent communication between the management and the employees also runs in real time via AI-based translations. That facilitates the contact enormously, of course.
- "We don't want to better distribute the skilled workers in Germany, but rather increase the total number of skilled workers in Germany."
Using AI in Construction
Crafthunt uses artificial intelligence to allow companies and employees to contact each other without language barriers. Since AI has become more and more important in recent years, we would like to know where else in the construction industry he sees the potential scope of application for AI.
He talks about the fact that there is also a lot of expertise in the construction industry that is more or less hidden. The entire set of regulations is very extensive, and finding a solution to a specific current problem can take a lot of time and effort as a construction manager. An AI tool could help here.
He also sees great potential in technical planning; that is, the design of construction projects. In this case, Patrick emphasizes once again that AI should not be used as a substitute, but as an assisting force. There are also many regulations to be observed in the design, for example. When the AI generates example design for different situations, it can ultimately help the designer in the decision-making process.
Future of Construction Industry
We have already discussed a major trend in the construction industry. In the future, AI can help to automate processes and thus significantly speed them up. Apart from that, Patrick thinks that the prefabrication of structural components will be trend-setting in our industry. Many problems that occur on a construction site can be avoided, for example, by simply assembling modules in large halls as often as possible.
If he had one wish he could fulfill for the construction industry, he would like to work on improving the image of the industry among young people. It is precisely the feeling of being able to create something with his work that Patrick finds so great about the construction industry. This self-efficacy alone should attract far more people.
However, this often gets lost in reality. The construction industry needs to work more on its image and open itself to innovations in order to motivate more young people to pursue this profession.
What he would like to pass on from his experience so far is change management. For him, the right introduction of new, innovative ideas is a cornerstone of change. Such things should never be decided top-down, but at a grassroots level.
- "You should choose a champion from among the employees who drives this forward from the inside."
Patrick, what is your favorite building?
He had already thought about it in advance. His favorite building is "Werk12" in the Werks district in Munich, Germany. This building was the first to be accompanied with his first startup, Capmo.
Patrick was allowed to participate regularly in the construction site inspections, and he is still very proud that he did his part. We can understand that well. Thank you for being with us!
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