How Builders Are Dealing With The Labor Shortage
Construction firms across the country are having a hard time finding enough labor, but rather than leave projects unbuilt, firms are finding ways to get on with it.
The construction industry lost over 40% of its workers between 2006 and 2011, and today six in 10 construction workers who lost work during the financial crisis have moved into other professions, ConstructionDive reports. To find enough workers to complete a job, especially skilled workers like framing crews, builders are finding they need to pay about 50% more for skilled labor and 20% more for laborers across the board.
Many companies are supporting training programs to bring more workers into the industry. Firms also are hiring workers from farther away and trying to better plan their operations, but when that fails, they are forced to fall back on a developer’s worst nightmare — delays.
