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Labor Shortages to Continue in 2018

Industry leaders need to nurture a new generation of trained workers.

By Brian J. Rogal | Updated on December 29, 2017

chi-construction crane (3) The 62nd construction crane in Chicago this year just went up on the future site of Belmont Village, a senior living facility on the Northwest Side.

CHICAGO—Builders throughout much of the nation struggled with higher construction costs in 2017. And many agree that an acute shortage of skilled labor was the chief culprit. The overall outlook for commercial real estate in 2018 remains positive, but that shortage will continue posing a threat to further growth.

“The cost of construction has risen significantly, even compared to pre-downturn levels,” Chuck Taylor, director of operations for Lemont, IL-based Englewood Construction, tells GlobeSt.com. To keep its construction projects on schedule, the company has been using large-scale subcontractors on some job sites, even ones from hundreds of miles away, as many smaller, local operators are overcommitted. Not all firms have this capability, however, and “that forces many projects into overtime situations.”

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