Recently, CoinstructConnect and Gordian teamed up to create and release a report on the construction labor pool and what is anticipated to happen with it in the future. This report will provide people in the industry with an understanding of why the labor pool is the way it is and how they can work with it.
According to the press release:
Construction wages rose sharply in the past three years and all market indicators foreshadow that labor will be a long-term constraint on the growth of the construction industry, according to a new report.
Gordian, a provider of data solutions for all phases of the building lifecycle, collaborated with ConstructConnect to produce a construction labor outlook report, The Great Adaptation: Navigating the New Construction Labor Pool. This report analyzes how the labor force has shifted since the pandemic and provides practical strategies for how organizations can adapt.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the construction labor pool has experienced a seismic shift,” said Sam Giffin, Gordian’s director of data operations and co-author of the report. “Organizations now find themselves hiring a different group of laborers, with different expectations and different skill sets. Navigating these new dynamics against structural headwinds requires careful consideration and cost management.”
Gordian and ConstructConnect explore construction labor market changes in this report and provide data-driven insights explaining what has fueled the labor shortage in the industry. Key findings include:
- Construction wages rose an average of 20% from 2021 to 2023.
- Two major changes in construction labor dynamics at the federal level will compound increasing cost structures in 2024 and beyond.
- Construction trade wages in the continental U.S. have been rising at a much higher rate in traditionally low-cost areas.
- As a result of the economy’s initial COVID shutdown in early 2020, over one million Baby Boomers, many with decades of work experience, permanently left the workforce.
The report contains cutting-edge data and expert analysis of construction labor costs, changes to prevailing wage calculations, the rise of mega-projects, the new balance of labor supply and demand, and changing workforce demographics. In addition to a thorough breakdown of the implications and impact of these various factors, the report also provides five specific strategies for how businesses can adapt to these new construction labor dynamics.
“America’s demographic picture makes clear that labor will be a long-term constraint on the growth of the construction industry,” said Michael Guckes, senior economist for ConstructConnect and co-author of the report. “Although regulatory and environmental impact concerns may increase overall construction costs, firms that emphatically embrace and implement best-in-class recruiting, training, and jobsite safety practices will be in a better position to control costs and maintain work product quality in the future.”
