Wood Industry Resource Collaborative Report Finds Career Opportunities, Job Growth in Future

The Wood Industry Resource Collaborative (WIRC), a coalition of wood industry trade associations with a mission of perpetuating the long-term growth of the industry by sustaining an engaged workforce, today announced over 120,000 new wood industry jobs were posted in 2023, and that plenty of jobs will continue to be available for the foreseeable future. This key statistic is one of the findings of a recently released detailed industry analysis commissioned by WIRC, examining the current conditions of the wood workforce in the areas of job availability, average salaries, skill and certification requirements and more. 

Retirements, and misalignment between job requirements and available talent have led to the secondary wood industry seeing nearly 16,000 companies recruit for jobs over the prior 12 months. However, the news is good in that jobs growth is strong with power tool operation, carpentry, construction, and hand tool skills are all expected to grow by over 20% in the next five years. 

Other key findings include:

·         Wood industry jobs are available all over the country, with California having the most available postings

·         Job postings increased 63% from mid-2021 to mid-2022

·         Seven of the top 10 recruited wood related occupations became more challenging to hire in 2023 compared to the past 4 years. Hiring one worker in 2023 required 32% more job postings than in 2019

·         Comparisons to other industries with similar skill requirements

WIRC is a consortium of trade associations, all related to the woodworking or the wood products manufacturing industry. The group’s purpose is to provide a collection of tools and solutions for the wood industry to attract and retain employees, while improving the perception of the industry. WIRC commissioned this report from Lightcast Talent Consulting to provide a high-level overview of the secondary wood industry and the demands, expectations and opportunities for career growth.

“The Wood Industry Workforce Analysis report has brought to light several important findings including how it is more difficult than ever to find qualified wood industry talent to fill the many high-tech jobs available,” said Adria Salvatore, Education Director at Architectural Woodwork Institute—a founding member of WIRC. “However, there is a great deal of good news in the report including our parity with the metals industry in job availability and pay level and the key finding of ongoing job growth in the wood industry in the decades ahead. We look forward to sharing the findings of the report in order to find pathways to develop talent to fill those expected job openings.”

For the full findings of the report, please visit:

https://youwood.com/workforce-analysis/?utm_source=IND&utm_medium=press_release