The recent hurricanes have left a trail of destruction in Texas and Florida, and residents are looking forward to rebuilding. But as a recent CBS report noted, there is a shortage of construction workers. Our school system has been pushing all young people to go to college when not everyone is a book nerd, and hands-on work skills like carpentry and plumbing are still needed. In addition, the skilled construction jobs can pay quite well, rather than leaving students with a mountain of debt — $37,000 on average for college graduates.

Home-building skills are needed for reconstruction in Texas and Florida.

Now, it would be unwise to steer young folks into skills like masonry, which looks likely to be largely automated by robot bricklayers in the near future. Carpentry and plumbing skills will probably survive longer in construction, and remodeling will also supply a lot of jobs even in the automated future.

We certainly want Americans to do the rebuilding, not have thousands of immigrants move in, often illegally, as they did in New Orleans after Katrina to do the work and never leave.

Perhaps someone could organize some on-the-job apprenticeships in the rebuilding, if such a thing is possible.

Here’s the report from CBS Sunday Morning: