Overview

The Future of Trades is at a Crossroads We're standing on the edge of the biggest turnover the trades have ever seen. 1 in 4 people in the trades are retiring. Some reports suggest that for every 7 tradespeople who leave, only 1 enters the workforce. When knowledge leaves the site, it's gone for good-unless we build systems to keep it. This is the conversation we've needed in the trades for years. Workers are retiring and owners are closing businesses, taking a world of experience with them. Who is remaining to pick up the torch? What's the cost when profitable businesses close and not enough people know how to do the work? For decades, trades and dirty jobs were under-promoted as a last choice career. What are we left with? A skilled worker shortage. Complaining won't solve anything. We're in a position to do something before it's too late. Pass the Torch: A Rallying Call to Rescue the Future of Trades is a rallying call and a roadmap for leaders in skilled trades and manufacturing to be part of the solution. Author Manja Horner says the hard things out loud and delivers practical frameworks for trades companies to: Become an irresistible draw to entice the best workers Capture retiring knowledge before it walks out the door Turn expert craft and trade methods into training Shorten ramp-up time for apprentices and new hires Modernize workplaces rooted in respect, clarity, and pride Develop supervisors who can run crews and retain people In Pass the Torch, Manja Horner doesn't just voice the problem; she offers the solution, a playbook that every trades company owner, leader, or union rep can use to pass the torch and save the future of the trades. Change is expensive. The only thing more costly is doing nothing.

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9781069661876

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Manja Horner is a third-generation tradesperson who grew up working in her family's restoration business, learning craft, precision, and pride of work from her father and the experienced masters who she worked alongside. She knows the rhythm of a job site, the weight of responsibility on a project, the culture and unspoken rules that shape life in the trades-because she's lived them.For more than sixteen years, Manja has built a career in skills training, leadership development, and curriculum design-working across nearly every industry. Today, she's back where her roots are: supporting skilled trades companies, unions, and frontline teams across North America as the founder of Boost Union and Boost Learning Design. She helps organizations strengthen their supervisors, modernize workforce practices, train workers, and build workplaces people want to stay in.Horner has seen what's working. She has seen where the industry fails the next generation of workers. And she knows the cost of waiting. It's not too late-but it's close. Manja challenges owners and leaders to stop looking outward for solutions. No government program, trade school, or recruitment campaign will save a company that refuses to develop its own people. Her message is clear: build an irresistible workplace, train your leaders, capture your knowledge before it retires, and create your own workforce pipeline from the ground up. The future of the trades depends on it.

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