National Fire Protection Association® (NFPA®) released survey results collected from over 170 industry professionals at the NFPA 2024 Conference & Expo®, the premier conference for fire, electrical, and life safety.
The research findings reveal insights into trends and attitudes around digital tools, training and development, and AI implementation within the skilled trades industry.
Mixed feelings about AI adoption
Twenty-five percent of respondents believe AI should be used to help skilled trade workers streamline tasks during ongoing labour shortages. 19 percent of respondents indicated that either themselves or their organisations have begun experimenting with AI-powered solutions to simplify menial tasks.
Additionally, one-third (31 percent) of respondents believe AI can spur industry growth by making the trades more attractive to a younger generation of workers.
AI challenges
AI to act as a “personal assistant” to field workers for hyper-personalised and on-the-go learning
On the other hand, nearly one-half (47 percent) of respondents revealed they are not currently leveraging AI in their day-to-day work and are skeptical of it. Additionally, only 8 percent of respondents believe AI implementation won’t benefit the fire and life-safe industry at all.
Respondents also cited utilising AI to act as a “personal assistant” to field workers for hyper-personalised and on-the-go learning (13 percent); streamline manual processes to save time (12 percent); and enhance learning and development initiatives, such as those delivered via virtual reality (8 percent).
Digital tools are positively impacting training and development
Eighty-two percent of respondents use digital tools daily to help streamline training and development programmes. The majority of respondents within this group recognise the diverse benefits that digital tools offer the skilled trades industry, including:
- Making training easier (98 percent).
- Saving time while training (94 percent).
- Streamlining the process of conducting training (95 percent).
Challenges with digital tools
However, respondents also noted challenges in leveraging digital tools within their day-to-day operations, despite an increase in the number of participants using five or more tools daily compared to the 2023 C&E Survey results.
For example, 69 percent of respondents cited collaboration as a top challenge for 2024, a significant increase from 2023’s results (29 percent). The top-reported challenges teams face in leveraging digital tools include:
- Collaboration (69 percent).
- Inspection (51 percent).
- Complexity of projects (46 percent).
Industry participation in NFPA programmes
Eighty-five percent of respondents participate in at least one NFPA training and development programme a year and 18 percent of respondents participate in or offer training or programmes twice a year. The top NFPA products and solutions leveraged by skilled trade professionals include:
- NFPA print publications (66 percent).
- NFPA membership (61 percent).
- NFPA LiNK® (51 percent).
Challenges persist when it comes to advancing training and development programmes, with a majority of respondents (70 percent) citing lack of time as the biggest barrier. Additional barriers include:
- Determining the right training (41 percent).
- Lack of access to qualified instructors (48 percent).
- Overwhelmed with options and/or a lack of time to vet training programmes (32 percent).
- Keeping track of which training is needed to maintain professional licenses (22 percent).
- Lack of technology to disseminate training to employee bases (18 percent).
- Inability to track and/or document training completions by employees (15 percent).
- Other (10 percent).
Addressing the skilled labour gap
38% of respondents reported the skilled labour gap has negatively impacted the amount of time and money spent
Nineteen percent of respondents noted the skilled labour gap has led to less time for career advancement opportunities through training and certifications.
More than one-third (38 percent) of respondents reported the skilled labor gap has negatively impacted the amount of time and money spent on recruitment and retention, with 14 percent of respondents turning down projects due to a lack of qualified labour.
Survey Methodology
NFPA collected responses from 171 U.S. and international-based workers, 18 years and older, in the electrical, manufacturing, construction, engineering, architect/design, facility maintenance, fire service, and insurance/risk management fields to determine the findings of this industry research.
The survey was conducted in person between June 17 - June 19, 2024, at the 2024 NFPA Conference & Expo®.