Shocking stat about construction and building needs

[John Talman]

Luke and I chatted about this on a recent episode of the Good Contractor Podcast, but Associated Builders and Contractors estimates the United States will need nearly half a million people to be new workers in the construction industry to meet demand next year (2026).

 

[the_ladyplumber]

That’s insanity . In our area we’ve been seeing an exponential rise in foreign workers in the industry to supplement the lack of workers locally. There have been definitely pros and cons. Of course jobs are actually getting done, and not all bad, however, some issues though due to lack of proper training and experience causing system failures (some dangerously so, ie. collapsing concrete slabs) in many high profile jobs in the city. It seems the smaller towns aren’t seeing it as much as the builds are smaller, not much commercial work and people tend to stick with smaller local companies for the residential and spec homes. But if the workers aren’t here, and the work load continues to rise, what other options are there?

 

[John Talman]

That’s insanity . In our area we’ve been seeing an exponential rise in foreign workers in the industry to supplement the lack of workers locally. There have been definitely pros and cons. Of course jobs are actually getting done, and not all bad, however, some issues though due to lack of proper training and experience causing system failures (some dangerously so, ie. collapsing concrete slabs) in many high profile jobs in the city. It seems the smaller towns aren’t seeing it as much as the builds are smaller, not much commercial work and people tend to stick with smaller local companies for the residential and spec homes. But if the workers aren’t here, and the work load continues to rise, what other options are there?

This is an aspect I've wondered about. Like with anything, when you have a big need for something, there is a chance you could get an influx of folks coming into fill those roles faster than normal and in turn, the training and general experience isn't there compared to someone that maybe didn't rush in as quickly. That of course could lead to poor work and as you said, sometimes dangerous results - "collapsing concrete slabs"