Help Wanted: A Sign of the Times in Construction
This is the first in a series of articles about our two-state region’s labor shortage issues and workforce needs.
When asked about their No. 1 business concern, both general and specialty contractors from across the Carolinas overwhelmingly give the same answer: the current and future workforce shortage. There are simply not enough people with the skills needed to fill specific jobs as the current workforce moves toward retirement. Compound the aging construction workforce and shrinking labor pool with an ongoing need to recruit and retain professional staff, and there are far-reaching implications for the future of the construction industry in the Carolinas and beyond.
Local industry associations like Carolinas AGC and ABC of the Carolinas are working aggressively to help their members attack the problem head-on — approaching the problem from different angles and on multiple levels, simultaneously.
GroundBreak Carolinas talked to senior executives from three regional construction firms based in North and South Carolina to get their perspectives on the critical challenge of attracting and retaining a skilled construction workforce.
Jim Heard is executive vice president with M.B. Kahn Construction Co., Inc. headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, the company has a total of nine office locations in the Carolinas, Georgia and Virginia. “The construction industry took quite a hit after the 2008 financial crisis, which led to the migration of some skilled workers to other industries as well as some early retirements. As an industry, we are still feeling those effects. Also, our region’s phenomenal success in recruiting new industry has obviously been great for our business, but at the same time, we are drawing from the same labor pool for new talent that those industries are, and young people coming into the workforce have more options now than ever.” said Heard.
“This issue impacts us directly and indirectly. Even though we do not self-perform nearly as much as we used to, we still maintain a good nucleus of skilled concrete mechanics and carpenters. The worker shortage is also impacting our subcontractors, and our success is tied to their success. We are seeing a lot of turnover in the subcontractor labor market, particularly masons and drywallers,” Heard added.
When it comes to professional staff, Heard said that estimators are always in high demand. “Young people in engineering and construction programs tend to lean toward project and division management,” he said. Heard did say that they have had great success in recruiting and retaining new college graduates through the company’s long-standing Summer Internship Program.
Ryan Wathen, senior vice president of operations for Rodgers Builders based in Charlotte, North Carolina focuses on healthcare construction in the Carolinas and Georgia. A large concentration of the company’s current work in healthcare is located in the eastern part of North Carolina. “As a construction manager, we clearly see a skilled trades shortage among our subcontractors. Companies are trying to do more with less. Experienced workers are ‘aging out,’ and we need more people coming into the workforce to close the knowledge gap,” Wathen said. “Getting enough skilled workers these days is a battle. Framing and drywall contractors seem to be struggling the most. Their labor pool is very fluid… these contractors are competing for the same resources.”
The impact of the labor shortage on project owners is already evident, says Wathen. “The lack of skilled finishers out there leads to quality issues, which impacts schedules and budgets. As subcontractor productivity goes down, quality goes down, and CMs have to add more resources for QA/QC… all of this adds time and cost to a project.”
For Rodgers, filling professional openings can be challenging, but not nearly as daunting as what their subcontractors face on a daily basis. “New graduates tend to want to go into management, but we have a greater need in the field. Especially superintendents… people who put the work in place.”
Wathen is optimistic, however, that the next generation will be attracted to field positions once they get a glimpse. “We find that most people like working in the field once they get there… they just need a push. There is something about working with your hands… to watch something tangible coming together. And for anyone interested in technology, the opportunities are limitless with so much technology on the jobsites these days.”
Greg Hughes, President of Contract Construction, headquartered in Irmo, South Carolina, sees his subcontractors struggling to find workers, and the problem is only intensifying. To offset the current and future skilled workforce shortage, his company is offering on-the-job training to high school students. Earlier this year, Contract Construction kicked off a partnership with the Berkeley County School District (BCSC) in Moncks Corner, near Charleston, to help prepare a new generation of construction workers. Through this partnership, building construction students at Berkeley and Timberland High Schools are receiving on-the-job training and apprenticeships made possible through Carolinas Association of General Contractor’s “Build Your Career” initiative. The program uses Contract’s actual construction projects underway for the school district as training ground.
“The shared goal for BCSD and Contract Construction is to inspire young men and women to see the construction field as more than a job. Construction is an extremely rewarding and essential profession, especially when considering the continued growth of Berkeley County. We are excited to have these students join us on our jobsites. I am sure we will both learn a lot from each other,” said Hughes.
Specialty contractors are also facing similar challenges. Watson Electrical, based in Wilson, North Carolina, offers large-scale electrical construction services throughout the Carolinas and Virginia. Watson President & COO Tom Headlee, elaborated on the extremely tight labor market in the region. “We need a lot more craft people and it’s really hard to find them. There are more temporary labor firms than there were 10 years ago, which shrinks our pool of labor even more. To meet this challenge, we have had to respond in new ways. We hired an in-house recruiter for the first time who looks for new people every day. Our success rate has improved, but we still have more demand than supply,” said Headlee.
To offset the tight labor market, Headlee said that Watson Electrical must be more productive – doing more with less in the office and in the field. “We are a big proponent of modularization and prefabrication, which reduces the need for labor in the field. We ship to three states from our prefab shop in Raleigh.”
Training is another key to maintaining our competitive edge, says Headlee. “Our Wilson training center is in constant use for both craft and management training. When our people get better at what they do, they become more efficient.”
Headlee said the most difficult professional position for Watson Electrical to fill is estimator. “It takes a special type of person to like estimating. Project managers are also hard to find, “he said. Headlee noted that most of Watson’s project managers are coming from outside the company because relocation is less appealing to many in today’s job market. For the most challenging labor market, he pointed to Charleston.
How are contractors and associations addressing the workforce shortage? Look for Part 2, Help Wanted: A Sign of the Times in Construction in the next issue of GroundBreak Carolinas Construction Digest.
