By Joe Bousquin
Construction firms are struggling to find workers to such a degree that it’s threatening the success of federal investment in infrastructure and manufacturing projects, the Associated General Contractors of America said Wednesday.
Citing its annual construction workforce survey of nearly 1,300 employers commissioned with tech provider Autodesk, AGC said 93% of construction firms have open positions, and 91% are having trouble filling them, particularly among the craft workforce that performs the bulk of onsite construction work.
The shortages ran the gamut of firms, from contractors who exclusively use union craft labor and those that operate as open-shop employers; from companies making $50 million to $500 million in revenue; those in all four regions of the country and ones that focus on building construction, highway and transportation projects, federal and heavy work or utility infrastructure.
‘Almost nobody out there’
“Construction workforce shortages are severe and having a significant impact on construction firms of all types, all sizes and all labor arrangements,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, in a statement.
Citing July’s construction unemployment rate of 3.5%, which was lower than that of the overall economy, he said, “that essentially means there’s almost nobody out there with construction experience looking for a new job in construction.”
The AGC’s survey came on the heels of this week’s job openings report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which found there are 375,000 unfilled positions in construction currently, a jump of 11.3% from a year ago.
Safety concerns, higher costs
During a webinar to detail the results of the AGC’s survey, Stephanie Simpkins, president of Liberty Lake, Washington-based traffic control contractor Northstar Enterprises, said a shortage of workers is impacting the safety of her jobs.
“Our projects encounter much longer hours worked than we would have in the past because we don’t have people to relieve others,” Simpkins said, describing the domino effect of fewer breaks for workers due to fewer people being on each job. “This year in particular was a real struggle to man all of our projects and do it in a way that keeps everybody safe.”
See article on constructiondive.com.