Building Trades Dispel Fears of Construction Worker Shortage

The development pipeline in Downtown Boston and elsewhere in the region has some construction executives concerned about a possible construction labor shortage.

BOSTON—While some construction firm executives are lying awake nights wondering if the nightmare of a possible construction labor shortage is in the offing for the Greater Boston area, the building trades are confident the region has the available workforce to handle the projects in the pipeline. The construction trades in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have made quite a comeback. In fact, the Associates General Contractors of America reported recently that Massachusetts ranked third among all states in the percentage of jobs gained (10.2%) over the past 12 months. While Massachusetts lost 200 construction jobs in April, over the past 12 months the state has gained 13,900 construction jobs and boasts a workforce of 149,600 workers. Ken Simonson , chief economist for the AGC, said when the group released its monthly employment report for April on May 20, “With construction employment having declined for the year in only six oil- or coal-intensive states, the industry appears to have plenty of work ahead and should resume hiring if firms can find enough qualified workers.” Association officials say they expect firms in many parts of the country will continue to expand their headcount amid growing demand for many types of construction projects.  They said many firms continue to be concerned about the lack of qualified workers. Robert Petrocelli , president and CEO of the AGC of Massachusetts , says that the association, made up of construction management firms consisting of about 70% union signatory companies and 30% non-union firms, is not experiencing any noticeable labor shortage yet. However, with major projects in the City of Boston, particularly in the Seaport District, as well as in nearby Cambridge, the issue is front and center with many of its members. He relates that members of AGC Advisory’s Board, which is made up of owners of real estate companies, architectural firms, subcontracting entities, and members of academia, as well as the association’s Board of Directors were recently asked to list the top challenges the building and construction industry will face in the next five years. He said the boards were specifically asked: “What keeps you up at night?” “Everyone answered the workforce shortage, the looming workforce shortage,” he says. “Where are we going to be attracting talent from? Petrocelli tells Globest.com that in addition to the significant development pipeline in Greater Boston, the construction trades also face the loss of a significant amount of craftsman to retirement. The potential for a workforce shortage has promoted the AGC of Massachusetts to launch a new Workforce Development Task Force. The industry as a whole has to do a better job recruiting young talent to join the construction trades, he says. Petrocelli adds that while its AGC members agree that it is a looming issue, they are not seeing any significant workforce shortage at the present time. Bud LaRosa , chief business performance officer of Tocci Building Companies  of Woburn, MA, tells Globest.com, “It is extremely busy and the demand for labor is very high. Everybody in the industry is looking for help. A lot of help disappeared during the recession and not all of its is coming back so we are looking wherever we can to either try and get people back into the industry or bring new people into the industry who haven’t considered construction as a career.” He says there is not only a need for union craftsmen, but also estimators, construction managers and superintendents. Tocci, a construction and project management firm, is not encountering any labor shortage issues, but is hearing reports that some subcontractors are beginning to find it difficult to hire qualified workers. “The consensus that I hear on the street is that there is not a lot of labor available,” he says. LaRosa says that it is not affecting its current work although because of the tight labor force it is becoming more difficult to fill open positions. He did say that he is hearing that some other firms are experiencing scheduling delays because either construction managers or their subcontractors can’t find workers to complete the projects on time. He says this reported shortage runs across all property types. Frank Callahan , president of the Massachusetts Building Trades Council in Malden, MA, says that while work is very strong, “There is no labor shortage. On the union side we have not had any problems with manning projects and getting staff for the jobs, partially due to the apprentice training programs we have and there has been a decent amount of union organizing as well.” He adds that he has heard that some non-union contractors are having some labor staffing issues. During the worst of the recession in 2008-2009, some unions were suffering from about 20%-25% unemployment, while a few union halls had about 50% of its membership out of work. Many of the unions throughout the state have recovered with many near full employment, although there are some sections of the state that are not experiencing as robust a jobs recovery as Boston-Cambridge for example. Callahan says that despite the significant commercial and multifamily development pipeline looming, he believes the union trades will be able to staff all of the pending project work. While some “travelers” could be used from other states, the vast majority of the work will be performed by local workers in the Greater Boston area and other craftsman from the local unions throughout the state. “We have been seeing this coming and we have been ramping up our apprenticeship programs to take in larger apprenticeship classes,” he says. “We have been organizing from the non-union sector so we have been able to meet the needs and we think we are on track to meet those (future) manpower needs.”