Skillit’s Skills-Based Labor Sourcing Approach Increases Qualified HVAC Candidate Pool By 2x Nationwide

Tapping its proprietary skills taxonomy, Skillit identifies transferable skills of electricians, sheet metal workers, mechanics and others to solve today’s skilled labor shortage

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Skillit, the data-driven recruiting platform for skilled, full-time construction labor, today announced it has dramatically increased the Heat Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) candidate pool for specialized firms by 34 percent by identifying workers according to applicable skills versus the traditional trade label. Many workers have skills that are applicable to HVAC work even though those workers may not explicitly label themselves as HVAC workers. Leveraging Skillit’s data-rich, skills-based profiles, the company sources talented electricians, sheet metal workers, auto mechanics and more with transferable skills that meet the needs of HVAC businesses and current Skillit customers. Exposing this untapped group of professionals is providing much-needed candidates for firms across states including Florida and Ohio. In Florida, Skillit’s approach increased the number of qualified HVAC candidates by 59 percent, and nationwide across the Skillit platform the same skills-based sourcing approach produced a pool of candidates that is 2x greater.

Skillit’s evolving taxonomy of trades, skill groups and skills currently categorizes skilled construction labor into 34 trades, 21 skill groups and over 200 skills. Trades are the traditional / legacy descriptors for different types of skilled craft labor, including roles like Carpenter, Ironworker and HVAC Installer / Technician. Skill groups encompass related skills that can apply across multiple trades. For example, Oxyfuel Cutting is a skill within the Welding Skill Group that applies across trades including Pipefitter, Ironworker, Millwright, Boilermaker and, of course, Welder.

“93 percent of construction firms have open craft roles and of those, 91 percent are having difficulty filling those positions. We believe this isn’t just a simple labor shortage, but really more about how we open up workers to a larger set of job opportunities. Today the construction industry's ability to solve the labor crisis is limited by legacy trade definitions. Employers taking Skillit’s skills-based approach have a larger pool of candidates to consider for any specific role,” said Fraser Patterson, CEO and founder, Skillit. “It’s no longer acceptable to categorize skilled workers by a single trade when they have the experience and skills to contribute much more. Our innovative approach to taxonomizing worker skills has increased the breadth of HVAC candidates for our customers and is proof that access to the right worker data can solve the skilled labor crisis.”

Skillit is the only skills-based labor platform designed for the construction industry. It assesses worker skill-level and taxonomizes worker data on everything from skills, experience, and compensation preferences to future moving plans and more. To date, Skillit has saved its customers an average of 50 hours per hire and more than doubled skilled worker retention rates. Most importantly, Skillit puts workers into full-time, W-2 jobs that they are more likely to stay in long-term, increasing both their personal stability and professional development opportunities.

About Skillit

Skillit is the only skills-based labor sourcing platform purpose-built for construction. Powered by its proprietary data, Skillit makes sourcing and recruiting craft employees exponentially faster, smarter and cheaper by matching medium and large ENR contractors with highly qualified craft labor. Started by a repeat ConTech entrepreneur with personal experience as a skilled tradesman and general contractor, Skillit is meeting the demands of contractors in the $1.7T annual construction industry. Founded in 2021 and backed by venture capitalists including Bow Capital, Building Ventures, MetaProp and HOLT Ventures, Skillit is delivering meaningful improvements to key metrics for hiring managers including percent of offers accepted and time to hire. To learn more, please visit: https://www.skillit.com/.