Two of the industry’s most tech-forward builders just bought into the same answer on hiring. DPR Construction and Suffolk Technologies have taken equity stakes in Skillit, a New York-based platform that claims the country’s largest network of vetted, for-hire tradesworkers, and both firms are rolling the tool into their operations.
What the Skillit investment buys DPR and Suffolk
The investments came through the builders’ venture arms — WND Ventures for DPR, Suffolk Technologies for Suffolk Construction — and add to Skillit’s $13.6 million in total funding, per Crunchbase. Neither side disclosed dollar figures.
The deployments differ. Boston-based Suffolk is starting with Liberty, its self-perform arm, then expanding as Skillit adds project managers, estimators and superintendents to a platform built around craft labor. Santa Clara, California-based DPR is going national immediately to staff its mission-critical work, where the data center boom has made finding electricians and pipefitters the binding constraint on schedules.
AI hiring tools move from novelty to infrastructure
Skillit’s pitch is a database of vetted craft profiles that recruiters can search with AI rather than working phone trees and gate lists. The firm already counts Brasfield & Gorrie, Mortenson and Swinerton as customers. “Skillit’s platform reflects that direction with its AI-powered infrastructure that helps our teams more quickly and effectively connect with talent in the skilled trades,” DPR board member Eric Lamb said in the announcement.
Suffolk CTO Jit Kee Chin was blunter about the gap being filled: construction’s workforce challenges “require new infrastructure and smarter systems,” not another job board.
The competitive field is getting crowded. Where Trades Go runs a profile-based app with around 3,500 users that borrows its mechanics from dating apps. The differences matter less than the direction: recruiting craft labor is becoming a software category, with GCs as both customers and investors.
Why builders are writing the checks themselves
Strategic investment gives contractors something hiring fees don’t: a say in the roadmap. Skillit CEO Fraser Patterson told Construction Dive the industry’s problems are generic enough that no custom builds are needed, but key accounts will shape what gets built next.
The context makes the logic plain. Construction needs about 499,000 more workers this year, and the firms winning data center and advanced manufacturing awards can’t let staffing set their schedules. When labor is the scarcest input, the tools that allocate it become strategic. DPR and Suffolk just priced that in.