Kitchen & Bath Business - February/March 2020 - 38

HOT TOPIC

Attitude Adjustment

Te c h & l a b o r d o m i n a t e d t h e S t a t e o f
the Industry panel, which centered on
adaptability & changing perceptions

ABOVE From left to right:

Francis, Akerberg, Pien,
Warner, Sandow

THE NKBA'S ANNUAL STATE OF THE INDUSTRY PANEL DISCUSSION at KBIS,
featuring executives from key segments of the kitchen, bath and design industries, focused on two of the most critical issues in the business: the shortage
of skilled labor and the technology boom.
Both present challenges and opportunities, according to the panel, which
was moderated by Fox News/Fox Business anchor Melissa Francis for the
third year. Mikael Åkerberg, CEO of European kitchen furniture maker
nobilia; Katty Pien, chief marketing officer of LIXIL Americas, home to
iconic brands American Standard, DXV and Grohe; Randy Warner, president of Luxe appliance maker Dacor; and Adam Sandow, chairman and
CEO of SANDOW luxury media, shared their perspectives on these issues
and potential solutions. Francis wove the two topics together, as the panelists
described the connections. A consistent theme common to both issues was
flexibility and adaptability.

UNDERSTANDING THE SKILLED LABOR CRISIS

Addressing the skilled labor crisis, which leaves hundreds of thousands of jobs
unfilled in the U.S. every month and will be exacerbated by some 750,000
openings in construction by 2026, the panel emphasized that changing the
thinking about the trades is key to attracting the next generation.
Pien said American Standard has been quite active in advocating for the
plumbing trade for 60 years.
"We know there's a lot of myth and misperception around the plumbing
industry," she added. "So in the past year, we conducted proprietary research
to understand why young adults aren't going into the plumbing industry, and
found that 78 percent of them think plumbing is grueling and dirty work.

38
38-40_KBB_0220_HotTopic.indd 38

By DIANNE M. POGODA

Most people think plumbers walk around with a
plunger, but if you look around KBIS, you see all
the innovation and excitement and technology - it
goes way beyond that."
Dispelling that notion, she added that, according to the survey, 90 percent of today's working
plumbers report very high job satisfaction, and 80
percent say they make "great money" and are very
happy with their income. LIXIL has also hosted
"Tools and Tiaras,"a program that welcomes high
school girls into the company's offices to understand what it's like to work in the trades, and encourages them to go into these fields.
"The key to understanding is education,"said Pien.
Warner noted that vocational schools have
changed dramatically in the past decade.
"We used to supply vocational schools that had
appliance service departments with free product,
help educate them and help teach," he pointed
out."But it's hard to find a vocational school today,
and most of them have gone to an online platform,
so there's much less hands-on learning now. The
installation part of the business is very difficult and
takes a lot of training. We have an obligation not
just to sell the product but to be sure it's installed
properly - and there aren't enough people to do
that now."
Åkerberg said Nobilia is approaching the problem from the manufacturer's point of view. For
instance, to help battle labor issues, his company is
designing product that's faster and easier to install.
"This makes the jobs go quicker," he added.
"We also run the Nobilia Academy to help young

/ FEB.-MARCH 2020 / KBBONLINE.COM / The official publication of NKBA (NKBA.org) and KBIS (KBIS.com)

2/12/20 5:03 PM

http://www.KBBONLINE.COM http://www.NKBA.org http://www.KBIS.com

Kitchen & Bath Business - February/March 2020

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