Dive summary:
- Associated General Contractors has looked at the numbers of skilled workers available as contractors begin to see renewed demand for their services, and all the people who have left the trades for other work or retired during the bad years mean there's a gap coming.
- Figures for the year that ended in January showed that more metro areas were adding construction jobs than were losing them, so demand was exceeding supply, and fewer and fewer workers can afford to wait for a call-back.
- Adding to the problem, AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson said, was that it appears the areas that are hiring are doing it faster than the other areas are laying off workers.
From the article:
"Between the challenges of attracting new recruits and retaining out-of-work ones, there aren't that many skilled workers waiting for a call-back in many parts of the country," said Stephen Sandherr, the association's chief executive officer. ...
