Rebuilding labor pool in trades

FRUITS OF LABOR: While the overall construction-labor market hasn’t entirely rebounded, there are growing demands in certain specialty areas. Above, Picerne Homes vinyl-siding installers Hugo Caal, foreground, and Jose Alfredo Garcia work on a home in Cranston. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
FRUITS OF LABOR: While the overall construction-labor market hasn’t entirely rebounded, there are growing demands in certain specialty areas. Above, Picerne Homes vinyl-siding installers Hugo Caal, foreground, and Jose Alfredo Garcia work on a home in Cranston. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

A few years ago, a labor shortage in the building trades in the Providence area seemed difficult to imagine.
With the housing bubble burst and economy in tatters, many construction workers, managers and tradesmen found themselves without work or underemployed.
Less than five years later, the construction market in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts still hasn’t recovered, but the labor market is much different.
Now instead of workers sitting idle, contractors report labor shortages in key trades and the potential inability to find enough new employees to expand should the market continue to gain momentum.
“What happened was so many people left the industry and many had years of experience,” said Ed Zarenski, estimating executive for Providence-based Gilbane Building Co. and author of the firm’s summer construction-market-conditions report. “People who were older retired because there wasn’t much work to be had. With that loss from the industry, you now have shortages.”
Like many blue-collar industries, the shortage has first appeared in certain specialties and in management, where the baby boomers’ creep toward retirement age has left looming leadership uncertainty.
People who can drywall seem to be in high demand, Zarenski said, possibly because they are such an integral part of residential construction, which has boomed in Boston and outpaced commercial building in the recovery.
On a national level, certain mechanical and electrical specialists have been in short supply, Zarenski said, possibly because some left construction for growth industries such as energy.
In addition to particular trades, Zarenski said there is also a looming gap in experienced construction management.
During a recession, older workers are more likely to drop out of the workforce than younger ones and then less likely to re-enter it years later when things pick up. That means the industry lost a disproportionately high number of experienced workers who could fill a management role should a firm land some large jobs.
“I recently spoke with a drywaller in New England who said he currently has enough people to man crews, but not enough managers to oversee the jobs,” Zarenski said. “Project managers are in short supply. Because of the baby boom, the people with the most experience are the ones leaving the workforce and there are not enough people yet climbing the ladder to fill those positions.”
As one would expect, potential labor shortfalls are much more of an issue in the Boston area, where the real estate market has been on fire, than anywhere else in southern New England, especially Rhode Island.
According to seasonally adjusted figures from the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, the high point for construction employment in the state was 23,400 workers in January 2007. By March 2011, the industry had shed 8,000 jobs to reach a low point of 15,400 workers.
Since then, employment rebounded to 17,400 jobs in May. In August, there were 16,800 Rhode Island construction jobs, meaning the state had gained back only about 18 percent of jobs lost.
Zarenski said the Boston area has recovered about 70 percent of the construction jobs lost during the recession.
The most noticeable impact of a shortage of skilled tradesmen will likely be difficulties for individuals or small contractors getting certain jobs filled.
A broader impact could be raising the cost of larger projects in the Providence area even as demand and property values remain depressed, eliminating affordability as a potential local advantage.
“We have two major problems: An aging workforce that isn’t being replaced and educated and you have the potential for a large demand to strain that more,” said John Marcantonio, executive director of the Rhode Island Builders Association. “Both union and nonunion, there is going to be a shortage of talent.” Marcantonio said in some cases Rhode Islanders who have been working in Boston could be lured back if things improve. In other cases they have left the region entirely or left the industry.
To narrow this potential talent gap, construction-industry leaders, like their counterparts in manufacturing, are focused on educating young people about the potential benefits of a career in the trades.
The builders association supported legislation passed this year to begin the reorganization of vocational education in Rhode Island with an emphasis on the “Worcester model” of partnerships between schools and businesses.
“I think unions, trade schools and high schools are doing better at communicating the message that the construction trades hold steady employment, you are remunerated for your efforts and it is rewarding building things,” said Tony Dematteo, vice president of business development at Providence-based Dimeo Construction Co.
For its part, Dimeo hopes its active internship program will engage young people deciding on a career path.
Gilbane is also focused on training and now makes sure young workers are introduced to as many different aspects of construction as early as possible, so they can take on more responsibility and climb the ladder when the situation arises.
Of course, the most direct way to draw people into any industry is to pay more, but wages in construction, like most industries, so far haven’t been rising significantly.
“If you offer the right compensation, you can entice people to come,” Zarenski said. •

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