Inside AGC Industry Issues
March/April 2008

Key to Success: Overcome Work Force Shortages

New report targets reasons for industry labor shortfalls

As a contractor, you may find yourself short of skilled workers at some point in your career. That point may even be right now.

As the industry grapples with ways to overcome labor shortages, AGC has taken the lead in finding solutions. AGC members have access to a wide array of information and support to help solve their labor and human resource issues.

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The Craft Worker Compensation Research Report, commissioned by AGC, includes more than 50 tables and graphs analyzing construction craft compensation.

To identify factors contributing to the skilled labor shortage, AGC commissioned national research firm FMI to use existing data sources in benchmarking nonresidential construction compensation. The data was compared against other industries recruiting from a similar labor pool, then analyzed to determine whether compensation is a factor in the shortage.

The Craft Worker Compensation Research Report compares compensation for union and nonunion workers—by region and by craft—including wages and benefits. It is the first time this data has been compiled and analyzed in a single place. The data compare construction professions that pull from a similar job pool and illustrate how construction wages stack up against other industries, including natural resources, manufacturing and trade.

The report found that construction is the only one of the four industries where each of the top 10 jobs exceeds $20 per hour in wages. In addition, the bottom 10 construction jobs (pile driver, plasterer, cement mason, carpenter, sheet metal worker, drywall finisher, painter, light equipment operator, metal building mechanic and general laborer) pay more than $16 per hour. The other industries pay less than that on the lower end of their pay scales.

Although construction offers the highest pay versus comparable industries, the wage gap has been closing steadily, and construction wages have not kept pace with inflation over the past 30 years.    

While the findings conclude that compensation is a significant factor contributing to the labor shortage in the construction profession, “Employment Projections: 2006-16,” released in January by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, forecasts construction to be the only goods-producing sector that will experience positive employment growth. The industry is expected to add 780,000 jobs and employ 8.5 million people by 2016.

With these expectations, it is more important than ever for construction firms to stay competitive in the overall labor force, and this information identifies opportunities for employers to increase their skilled work force.