Recruiting and Retaining a Qualified Labor Force in the Construction Industry: What to Strive for and Consider

• Author: By Erin Ebeler
• Pages: 14-25

THE CONSTRUCTION LAWYER14 Volume 42 Issue 2 2022

CONSTRUCTION LABOR FORCE

Recruiting and Retaining a Qualif‌ied

Labor Force in the Construction

Industry: What to Strive for and

Consider

[byline]

In August 2019, the Associated

General Contractors of Amer-

ica (AGC) released a study in

cooperation with Autodesk that

revealed that 80 percent of con-

struction rms have a hard time

lling hourly craft positions.

1

As

such positions represent the bulk

of the construction workforce,2

AGC’s Chief Executive Ofcer

Stephen E. Sandherr has stated that “[w]orkforce short-

ages remain one of the single most signicant threats to

the construction industry.”3 In 2019, AGC has noted that

the vast majority of rms believe that “it will continue to

be hard, or get even harder, to nd hourly craft workers

over the next 12 months.”

4

Little did those rms know

that COVID-19 would ravage America’s worksites just

months later and bring a new set of labor force challenges

to the jobsite.

The COVID-19 pandemic has served as an eye-opening

reminder to the construction industry of the challenges

associated with attracting, retaining, and safely managing

a dependable workforce. But what is causing labor short-

ages, and how can it be addressed? Prior to COVID-19,

topping the list for most rms responding to the AGC’s

2019 survey were concerns relating to the quality of the

recruitment pipeline and an increasing percentage of mari-

juana use among laborers.

5

These stafng challenges led

to project delays, increased costs, and upward bid adjust-

ments to account for such likely events.6

The AGC’s proposed response to the labor shortage

includes funding requests to the federal government for

career and technical education, increased construction-

related immigration, grants for community or career

college students, and making it easier for rms to establish

training programs.

7

This article offers practical guidance on

recruiting and retaining a robust workforce while still com-

plying with a company’s legal obligations and limitations.

8

I. Developing Interest in the Construction Trades

The early 2000s saw a relentless push for high school gradu-

ates to attend a traditional, four-year college and pursue a

career in corresponding elds; presently, the labor surplus

in those industries and debilitating student loan debt have

steered many Gen Z students to less-traditional career

paths. These so-called new-collar9 workers are trained

through community colleges, vocational schools, techni-

cal certication programs, high school technical education,

and on-the job apprentices and internships.

Now more

than ever, the construction industry should make a con-

certed effort to draw these young workers into the fold.10

To do so, rms should consider collaborating with local

educational institutions and developing programs inter-

nally for internships and/or apprenticeships.

A. Reaching High School Students

Though some programs shoot for an even younger demo-

graphic,11 high school students represent an ideal market

for construction industry recruitment. The AGC identi-

es three primary approaches to high-school recruitment

efforts.

Charter Schools

As an alternative to a standard high school experience,

some communities have developed charter schools focused

on preparing students for a career in the construction

industry. For example, the Academy for Career Educa-

tion in Nevada teaches high school students “skills for

today’s professional careers in construction, engineering,

transportation, mining, and manufacturing through inte-

grated academics with a focus on workplace readiness”12

The school offers four primary programs: Building Trades;

Advanced Machining and Manufacturing Technology;

Diesel Technology; and Architectural, Landscape Archi-

tecture, and Residential Design.

13

On the engineering side

of the construction industry, P-TECH (Pathways in Tech-

nology Early College High School) programs across the

country similarly provide a leg up to students interested

in the trade. The agship P-TECH school was started by

IBM in Brooklyn almost a decade ago offering as follows:

As part of its six-year program, students take traditional

high school classes and also get workplace training, inten-

sive science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)

classes, and college courses. Though many high schools

across America offer challenging Advanced Placement

(AP) classes for college credit, what sets P-TECH apart is

Erin Ebeler