By Marty Mulcahy, Editor
\nThe Building Tradesman<\/p>\n
A construction industry personnel shortage wasn\u2019t the only thing on the minds of U.S. contractors responding to a recent Associated General Contractors industry survey.<\/p>\n
But the perception of worker shortages certainly seemed to color their view of the industry, and how they could best guide their business in such an environment.<\/p>\n
Following are some additional take-aways from the AGC\u2019s survey, conducted in August and September 2014, and released Oct. 22. The survey included responses from more than 1,000 construction contractors across the U.S. AGC represents contractors who generally work with building trades unions.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Worker shortages prompt many firms to increase pay, benefits and overtime. Fifty-nine percent of construction firms reported they increased base pay rates for construction craft workers in an effort to retain and attract workers. And 24 percent reported providing incentives and\/or bonuses, while 23 percent increased contributions to, or are improving, benefits.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Despite offering higher pay and better benefits, many firms are losing workers to other construction firms and other industries. Twenty eight percent of firms reported losing craft workers to other local construction firms, while 15 percent report losing them to construction firms in other parts of the country. At the same time, 25 percent of firms said they lost craft workers to other industries in their area.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Eighty two percent of the firms surveyed believe it will become harder, or continue to be hard, to find and hire craft workers during the coming 12 months. Only 4 percent expressed an expectation it will get easier.<\/p>\n
\u2022 There is a direct relationship between the severity of craft worker shortages and the quality of the local training pipeline. In the South, where 86 percent of contractors reported having a hard time finding qualified construction craft workers, 67 percent of contractors rate the local training pipeline as below average or worse.<\/p>\n
Conversely, in the more-unionized Northeast, where only 67 percent of contractors reported having a hard time finding qualified construction workers, contractors have a better opinion of the quality of the construction training pipeline, with 53 percent saying local training programs are average or above. In the Midwest, 45 percent of respondents said the local training pipeline was average or above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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