The 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. 

Skilled trade workers have mixed feelings about AI adoption within the industry 

Twenty-five percent of respondents believe AI should be used to help skilled trade workers streamline tasks during ongoing labor shortages. In fact, 19 percent of respondents indicated that either themselves or their organizations 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. 

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 utilizing AI to act as a “personal assistant” to field workers for hyper-personalized 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).

The utilization of digital tools is positively impacting training and development programs 

Eighty-two percent of respondents use digital tools daily to help streamline training and development programs. The majority of respondents within this group recognize 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 trainings (95 percent)

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 on a daily basis compared to the 2023 C&E Survey results. For example, 69 percent of respondents cited collaboration as top challenge for 2024, a significant increase from last year’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)

The majority of industry professionals participate in NFPA training and development programs

Eighty-five percent of respondents participate in at least one NFPA training and development program a year and 18% of respondents participate in or offer training or programs 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 programs, 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 programs (32 percent)
    
• Keeping track of which trainings are needed to maintain professional licenses (22 percent) 
    
• Lack of technology to disseminate trainings to employee bases (18 percent) 
    
• Inability to track and/or document training completions by employees (15 percent)
    
• Other (10 percent)

Nineteen percent of respondents noted the skilled labor 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 labor. 

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Survey Methodology

The 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^®.