As anyone who has tried to get work done on their home in the last few years knows, finding a contractor oftentimes can be a trying experience – they either don’t return phone calls or even if they do call, it might take months to schedule you in.
Based on reporting done for a Page 1 story in this week’s edition, that disconnect is likely another of the long-lasting effects of the Great Recession.
Contractors large and small report that the labor pool they need to act on projects has shrunk significantly in the last half-dozen years. When the residential- and commercial-building markets collapsed, many tradespeople retired or left the business (or left the state), meaning that once work did come back, there weren’t enough people with the correct skills for contractors to hire.
In fact, only 18 percent of the jobs lost from the January 2007 peak sector employment have been recovered since the low point in March 2011, leaving 16,800 working in the sector from the high point of 23,400.
Individual contractors have been working to create partnerships with schools to expose students through internships. But the need is greater than what a few firms can accomplish.
The state’s schools have been falling down on the job of technical education, as has been documented in the manufacturing industry. Add the building trades to the sectors that need focused and immediate action to help fill the gap between labor supply and demand. Otherwise, it is altogether possible that the lack of workers may cost Rhode Island potential economic-development benefits. •