Contractors have trouble finding workers, Northeast no exception

PROVIDENCE – The Associated General Contractors of America reported Wednesday that most construction firms are having trouble finding qualified workers, and firms in the Northeast were no exception, with 67 percent reporting difficulty filling jobs.

Association officials are calling for new career and technical school programs, as well as other workforce measures to offset the labor shortages.

“As the survey results make clear, many construction firms across the country are having a hard time filling available positions,” Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors, said in a statement. “Considering how much the nation’s educational focus has moved away from teaching students career and technical skills during the past few decades, it is easy to understand why the construction industry is facing such severe labor shortages.”

Eighty-three percent of responding firms nationwide said they are having a hard time filling craft worker positions – on-site construction jobs including carpenters, equipment operators and laborers. Sixty-one percent are having a hard time filling professional positions – including project supervisors, estimators and engineers.

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Simonson noted that worker shortages appear most severe in the Southeast, where 86 percent of contractors report having a hard time finding qualified workers.

The construction economist added that many firms are changing the way they operate to address worker shortages. Forty-eight percent of firms nationally report increasing the use of subcontractors and 37 percent increased use of staffing agencies. In addition, 59 percent of firms nationally report they have increased wages to help retain construction craft workers and 56 percent have done so to retain construction professionals.

In the Northeast, 59 percent of firms said they increased base pay rates to retain or recruit construction professionals, while 27 percent said they provided incentives and bonuses. Fourteen percent of firms reported that they have not increased pay or benefits, but are considering to do so in the near future.

The association crafted “Preparing the Next Generation of Skilled Construction Workers: A Workforce Development Plan for the 21st Century” in response to the growing worker shortages, Simonson noted. The plan identifies steps, like increasing funding for vocational education and making it easier to establish construction-focused schools, designed to reinvigorate the pipeline for new construction workers.

Simonson said that more than 1,000 construction firms participated in the survey, which was conducted during August and September of this year.

View survey results HERE.

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