Hartford Business Journal

HartfordBusiness.com | February 8, 2021 | Hartford Business Journal 21 it harder to do that." State Rep. Tim Ackert (R-Coventry) said he recently filed a bill that would permanently set the hiring ratio at 1:1, which matches the ratio companies are allowed to have on an actual job site. He said the current hiring ratio harms workforce development in the state. "I see young people going through trade schools, and then there are no jobs for them," said Ackert, a licensed electrical contractor who owns Coventry-based Ackert Electric LLC. "There are people who want to hire them, but they can't because there's a ratio." Safety and training Among the ratio's supporters is the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Hartford chapter. Chris Brown, training director of the Hartford Electricians Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee and treasurer of IBEW's Hartford chapter, said the ratio requirements are an important safeguard against companies relying too much on inexperienced workers. Lifting them could make job sites more dangerous, and the job market less hospitable to higher-paid licensed workers with more experience, Brown said. Further, Brown said, a cutout already exists in companies' ability to apply for a waiver. "They should be required to show they really have that need [for a waiver]," Brown said. "I just don't see the need to change the ratio … and flood the market with too many apprentices." Russell Jarem Tim Ackert Stillman Jordan State Sen. Julie Kushner (D-Danbury) chairs the General Assembly's Labor & Public Employees Committee and said the hiring ratio ensures apprentices receive adequate training. If a company has just a few licensed professionals training a large number of apprentices, they could receive subpar instruction. "It's important that they're trained well so that when they do become licensed journeymen they're really well qualified to do the work," Kushner said. "It's really important to all of us, as consumers, that if we're going to license journeymen that they're well trained." Kushner noted that the nationwide unemployment rate for journeymen is about 30%, which suggests that contractors already have a pool of experienced workers from which they can hire. Jordan said easing the restrictions will help the state achieve its workforce-development goals. "The challenge is when you're running a business, the pain gets to the point where we're going to struggle if we don't solve this," Jordan said. Contractors are allowed to have one apprentice for every licensed journeyman on a job site in Connecticut. "The challenge is when you're running a business, the pain gets to the point where we're going to struggle if we don't solve this" Stillman Jordan PHOTO: | CONTRIBUTED

• Cover