According to a piece that was first published in USA Today, general construction rates in the United States are significantly higher this year than they were during the same period of time in 2014. Though this is certainly good news for the industry, one factor is complicating matters: a shortage of qualified and mission-critical employees is happening at the same time. Industry experts indicate that this labor shortage is significantly stifling the recovery of the industry as a whole, particularly after the trying economic times that the country has experienced for the last several years.
While USA Today is the most recent source reporting on what the CEO of the National Association of Home Builders calls “an epidemic,” they are hardly the first. Both The Street and CNBC have also touched on the issue over the course of the last few weeks.
The current situation in the construction industry is the result of a “snowball effect” that began with the collapse of the housing market. As home sales fell steeply and vacant homes were suddenly appearing in large numbers across the nation, the contracting industry in general took a significant hit in productivity. Unable to find gainful employment, construction workers and contractors left the industry in droves in search of work elsewhere.
When construction in general began to recover as the economy itself did the same in 2012, companies soon found that they lacked the employee resources that they needed to handle many of the large projects that they were faced with. As a result, you have the current labor crisis. Not only is it delaying some major projects in areas all over the country, but it is also seeing a steep increase in the price of homes at the same time.
The shortages are affecting positions across the board and are not limited to any one particular type of contractor. When the National Association of Home Builders surveyed a group of contractors in June, for example, it was revealed that as many as 70% of respondents did not have enough carpenters necessary to complete their current work load. To put that number into perspective, it is an increase of an astounding 63% over the same type of survey that was conducted during June of 2014.
While the labor shortage may not be good news for the industry as a whole, it is something that can be taken as a positive sign for those highly qualified professionals looking for employment within the industry. If there is a silver lining to this particular cloud, it becomes by way of the fact that positions in major contracting companies and with major projects are opening for those with skill sets that are currently highly in demand. For both seasoned veterans who are looking to get back into the industry and new professionals who are looking to begin a long-lasting career, the time has never been better to find gainful employment as a contractor.
