Over the past two decades, the truss industry has quietly engineered a crisis of its own making. In the pursuit of flexibility and cost efficiency, companies have embraced remote designers and offshore design firms. Although these shifts solve immediate staffing needs, they’re slowly eroding the pipeline of in-house talent on which the industry depends. The consequences are starting to show—and if we don’t address them, the future may hold more problems than solutions.
The roots of this issue stretch back to the Great Recession. Between 2007 and 2010, hiring in the truss industry all but froze. Training programs stalled. Entry-level roles disappeared. Experienced designers were let go, and many never returned. As the economy recovered, damage to the workforce was already done. Nearly twenty years later, that lost generation has left a void: fewer mid-level designers, an aging senior base, and a severe shortage of in-office talent.
Then came COVID. In 2020, the “recession lite” solidified remote design as a permanent fixture. Entire design departments adapted overnight. Systems were built to support remote workflow and monitor productivity. And it worked—so well, in fact, that many companies never went back. Today, remote designers are a vital part of the staffing equation, and for good reason: they are experienced, productive, and able to integrate into company workflows with minimal disruption.
But while remote designers add value, they often replace what used to be an in-house role. And when a position goes remote, it’s nearly impossible to bring it back on-site. Our most experienced designers are older and more rooted—relocation isn’t on the table. Younger designers, shaped by a different set of values, aren’t interested in relocating either. Gen Z prioritizes work-life balance, mental health, and personal freedom over career advancement. Ask them to move for a job, and you’ll likely hear, “Why would I?”
At the same time, millennials, the last major cohort trained in-house, are no longer mobile. They’ve bought homes, built families, and established careers with dual-income households. Even if a relocation offer is attractive, the personal costs often outweigh the benefits. The result? An increasingly stationary talent pool—and a growing struggle to fill in-office roles.
Enter offshore design firms. To fill gaps in capacity, many manufacturers now rely on overseas providers for estimating and design support. On the surface, it seems ideal: on-demand labor, scalability, and cost savings. Offshore firms can handle basic and some intermediate-level tasks using your software and parameters, without the overhead of hiring or the risk of layoffs during slow periods.
But convenience has a cost.
Offshore support may keep projects moving, but it doesn’t build your internal knowledge base. These designers aren’t in your meetings, mentoring new hires, collaborating with sales, or catching problems before they hit production. They can’t absorb your company culture, and they can’t grow into senior leadership roles. Offshore design fills a gap—but it doesn’t feed the future. Rely on it too heavily, and you may find yourself with no bench left to promote.
So, what’s the answer?
It starts by recognizing that in-person designers are not just a resource, they’re a foundation. If you want people in the office, you need to make it worth their while. That means paying more. If a remote designer earns $80,000, consider offering $90,000–$95,000, or a $25,000 “in-office bonus” for someone willing to relocate or commute. You’ll spend more upfront, but the return in productivity, collaboration, and long-term loyalty will far outweigh the cost.
Better yet, consider recruiting from within. Your remote designers, who already know your systems, people, and processes, may be open to an in-office role—if you make it worthwhile. That shift brings experience back into your building, without the steep learning curve of a new hire. And it’s far easier and cheaper to replace a remote designer than to find someone willing to relocate.
Ultimately, this isn’t just a hiring problem; it’s a cultural one. If we continue to prioritize offshore support and remote convenience over developing in-house talent, we risk losing our very infrastructure. Without mentorship, collaboration, and investment in our teams, we’ll lose the core of what makes our companies strong.
Remote design is here to stay—and it should be. It offers flexibility and access to talent we might not find locally. But it must be balanced with a long-term commitment to in-house growth. Offshore has its place, too, but only as a supplement, not a substitute.
If we want to preserve our industry’s future, we need to stop outsourcing our potential and start rebuilding one designer, one office, and one career path at a time.