Construction companies struggling to find craft workers

National contractors came out with a recent survey that most construction companies are having a hard time finding craft workers and called on the federal government to invest in workforce development to bridge the gap.

Currently, contractors across the country are looking for more workers and are having difficulty filling job openings, according to a survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and human resources company Arcoro.

The association reported that 94% of respondents to a recent survey said they have openings for craft workers and 85% have openings for salaried workers.

The shortage of craft workers persisted as 28% of respondents said they had at least 11 unfilled positions since June 30, survey results showed. Of the respondents, 54% of contractors reported project delays because of workforce shortages.

Around a third of contractors working in the building construction, highway, federal and heavy and utility infrastructure subsectors reported fallen headcounts in the past year.

AGC officials pointed to federal education, training and immigration policies as the culprit for shortages, which hindered the country’s ability to build infrastructure and construction programs.

“The most likely path to addressing construction workforce shortages is for the federal government to adopt better workforce policies,” said Jeff Shoaf, the chief executive officer of AGC, in a virtual news conference. “Federal officials need to support, instead of undermine, our national infrastructure and economic development policies,” he added.

Midwest shares problems with rest of the U.S.

Survey results in the Midwest were slightly lower than national firms, but close to the same levels in terms of headcounts.

In the Midwest, 49% of firms reported an increased headcount while 28% said they saw headcounts decrease over the past 12 months, survey results showed. National firms said they had a 51% headcount increase and a 30% decrease in headcounts over the past year.

Additionally, 41% of Midwest contractors said it was harder currently to hire craft workers than it was a year ago, the survey showed. The number one challenge to hiring was the lack of qualified candidates, and 58% of respondents said candidates lacked skills and certifications.

Runners up to hiring challenges were new hires failing to show up or quitting after starting (51%) and potential employees lacking credentials such as a driver’s license, work permit or clean background check (40%).