b'What are some of the challenges How does workforce development maintain, and more importantly, lead the and opportunities you are seeing and other labor shortage issues affect organization to improve management in the specialty construction & risk management? and safety. The complexity of the work utility sectors? If you look at our current situation, wethat is now being performed, requires One of the major challenges, no matterhave a generation of highly skilledthat there be much more attention and the industry, is workforce developmentworkers (carpenters, plumbers, utilityfocus on risk management, whether it and staffing. There are not enoughworkers) who will be leaving their jobsbe the financial risk management or qualified staff in the trades space tofor retirement in the next five years,personal risk management, people are complete the amount of work thatand there is not a significant amountthe most important asset that we have. needs to be done. This is more than justof candidates coming in now, or evenBecause without our people, wehaving bodies, it is about developingfive years ago. It takes several years todo nothing. and retaining individuals with theregenerate the skills and experienceWhat would you like people toskills and qualifications required tothat those individuals had. From a riskknow about Zurich? keep up with economic expansionmanagement perspective, statisticsWe are an insurance company that and the billions of dollars of neededshow that employees that are new inlooks at the quality of risk, but it is infrastructure repair and improvements.their careers in the field are at a higherimportant for us to look at ways to save There are exciting opportunities alongrisk for injuries. But long term, whatlives, improve our contractors method these same lines with innovation in thishappens when the quality of work thatof risk management, and to be a partner area. Right now, there is more ventureis being put in place does not last for ain the marketplace. We are advocates capital being invested in technologynormal duration, such as constructionfor risk management and safety that supports construction productivitydefects? With an inferior product andthroughout the construction industry. and to curb the labor shortage. Again,lack of quality skilled inspections, it these are long-term investmentsimpacts the insurer, which become with technology and innovation inclaims that affect the company itself. the marketplace that offer greatPoor installation process leads to opportunities for beneficial futures forconstruction defect claims that cause the industry.insurance payouts. This is where Has there been any research donecompanies can perform a self-risk to back up the need for workforceassessment on their own policies toThese are notdevelopment programs? see where there are potential holes in processes to ensure that they areshort-term solutions; Zurich is an active member ofnot only protecting themselves, but Construction Industry Institute (CII) andothers from harm. When evaluatingthese aresponsored research for the CII team tocompanies for risk, our engineers looklong-termcomplete a three-year study to evaluateat workforce development programs, the workforce development programsbecause it shows that companies areinvestments in in the United States and how theytaking the future of risk potential into compare to other nations. Out of this,consideration. We also look at the safetythe future of our we identified areas for improvementpractices and education processes inworkforce and the on a national basis and shared themplace to train or develop employees to with industry leaders to educate themreduce the potential for risk. education on the significant challenges andHow has management of risk changed opportunities in front of us. These are not short-term solutions; these arein the construction industry over theof future long-term investments in the futurepast several years? of our workforce and the educationIt has improved dramatically over thegenerations .of future generations on the types oflast 20 years. And I think theres been work available. Increased investmentseven a sharper increase in the last five in training, mentorship, and technologyyears. There are many companies that are required coupled with a balancejust a few years ago may not have had in federal educational funding for aa dedicated risk manager or a dedicated sustainable workforce for the future. safety manager in place to help monitor, NINE'