HOUSTON—Construction represents 10% of the US GDP. During the last seven years, the construction market has demonstrated healthy and steady growth with no abatement in sight.
The commercial/industrial sector of the AIA Architectural Billing Index indicates for the last year, there has been an ever-increasing amount of design work: translation, an even greater volume of construction is on the way. Moreover, the recent natural disasters across the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean can only continue to impact the ever-increasing gap of labor supply and demand, according to analysis from DRB Consulting LLC.
A survey from the Associated General Contractors of America found that 67% of construction firms are having difficulty finding skilled workers such as carpenters, bricklayers, electricians and plumbers. This labor shortage can be tied to the Great Recession of 2008/2009, where skilled labor left the industry to find new and more reliable employment. The general consensus has been that a significant percentage stayed with those new professions and never returned to the industry. And, Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age at a rate of 10,000 a day, with a good portion of the construction workforce expected to hang up the tool belt for an easier life.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
