A Solution to Reducing the Construction Labor Shortage

In recent years, the news media has done its fair share of covering the construction labor shortage in the construction market place.  This labor shortage has been with us for some time, though it has grown more acute in recent years.

Construction workers, both laborers of various grades and executives, have either retired or left the industry altogether and have not been replaced in sufficient numbers.  And not only has the labor pool declined, it has aged significantly.

In a recent article published by AXA Insurance notes that over the last twenty years, the average age of a construction worker has increased from 37.6 years to 42.6 years.  Furthermore, the construction industry has an image problem.

Amy Scott, in her article in the April 2019 issue of MarketPlace entitled “Facing a Labor Shortage, Construction Tries to Rebrand” writes “People think of construction as dirty jobs . . . People think of it as jobs that only require brute strength.  People view it as jobs that don’t require real training or skills, and quite frankly they view it as a job instead of a career.” adding more weight to the construction labor shortage.

In a NY Times article written on March 19, 2019, by C.J. Hughes, titled, “Another Role for Construction Cranes: Economic Indicator“, he writes, “Nationally, the construction industry employed 7.46 million people in 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, continuing several years of increases. But it’s still recovering from the last recession. In 2006, the number of workers was 3 percent higher, 7.69 million.”

It goes on to point to number of cranes in a city are a good indicator of construction growth.  I am fortunate to currently reside in one and previously another; whilst working in both; “cities where cranes are plentiful, despite signs of a global slowdown, are Los Angeles (44), New York (28) and San Francisco (29), according to the index, whose clients include construction, engineering and architecture firms.”

There couldn’t be a better place to start than in Los Angeles in hopes to slowly address this construction labor shortage!  If the effort proves successful would like to replicate in other cities.