September 15, 2021

This week’s “From the Tap” KBB podcast topic covers the major elephant in the room – the skilled labor shortage. We talk about how to attract new workers by thinking outside the box, which messages to send to teachers and parents and how you as design professional can help.

Our guest is Bill Feinberg, president of Allied Kitchen & Bath and Allied Decorative Hardware & Plumbing, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He and his company take the skilled labor shortage very seriously, and he is a huge advocate of helping improve this challenging situation in the Florida area and beyond.

Feinberg feels there needs to be a major shift in the way our country is trying to attract skilled laborers. He says skilled laborers are not looked at in the U.S. with as much importance as they are in other countries – even when they are making a good living here. Parents need to know the benefits of learning a skill, and we as an industry need to work on changing their mindset.

He has also targeted veterans for jobs with his firm and has tapped students from the Junio Achievement organization. He is also working with a homeless organization to try and rehabilitate some of those people into skilled laborers.

Feinberg believes our industry has to be willing to train and mentor these workers as well. He feels that if we hire good people, we can teach them what they need to know, and they can be up and running in a month or two.

He is a big believer in being involved with one’s community, and giving back has always been a part of his and his firm’s mantra. He says being involved with his Chamber of Commerce is probably the best investment he’s ever made. He also shared with me how he was able to help some of the front-line hospital workers in Fort Lauderdale recently.

Feinberg talked to me about how he and his team are specifically working to solve the skilled labor shortage and other industry issues by having discussions with like-minded professionals. Watch the full video above or listen to the podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts and other outlets.