While a downturn in economic activity is rarely welcome news in any field, construction may soon have more bandwidth to tackle long-simmering, high-stakes challenges that have plagued the industry for years. A potential slowdown provides an opportune time for every firm to take a hard look at its leadership pipeline.

Much of the industry focus in recent years has been the shortage of construction workers to fill jobs to keep up with construction expansion needs, as the Home Builders Institute estimated a shortfall of 2.2 million workers between now and 2024. That problem still needs attention and hardly exists in a vacuum from management deficits—but without question, leadership needs for the near and long term in construction have not gotten the consideration they deserve.

Reprinted courtesy of Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

The U.S. Dept. of Labor has called off its efforts to revoke Arizona’s occupational health and safety plan after the state addressed federal officials’ workplace safety concerns.

The construction industry currently has around 430,000 job openings, with 40% of the U.S. construction workforce poised to retire over the next decade. At the same time, President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is set to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs by 2028. Although the BIL will increase job opportunities in the coming years, the construction industry will likely struggle to find skilled workers to fill these critical roles.

To supplement this labor gap, construction firms must make strategic technology investments that reduce jobsite and administrative inefficiencies. The right technologies can offset labor challenges by empowering teams to optimize workflows and complete projects faster. They can also lessen the amount of hard labor required to complete projects—protecting and incentivizing construction workers in labor-heavy roles.

Reprinted courtesy of John Meibers, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

Construction posted its eighth straight monthly jobs gain, recording a strong increase of 28,000 positions in December, but the industry’s unemployment rate showed mixed results, the Labor Dept.’s Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported. In its latest monthly look at the nation’s employment picture, released on Dec. 6, BLS said all construction sectors added jobs, led by nonresidential specialty trade contractors, which gained 10,200.

Construction firms are poised to play a key role in cutting New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions as large building owners move to comply with a local law limiting emissions from their properties. But some concerns remain around the law and the way it will be carried out.

The construction industry is coming to grips with a massive problem: finding, hiring and training the next generation of construction workers in the United States. Between the fallout from job loss due to the pandemic, the “Great Resignation” (where people increasingly and voluntarily quit their jobs) and an aging Baby Boomer workforce retiring in droves, the construction industry must immediately prioritize attracting a new workforce.

According to the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), construction faces a workforce shortage of over 650,000 workers in 2022 alone. They noted that since the end of the Great Recession, workers aged 25-54 had dropped 8%, while workers 55 and over have risen by 20%. With the average retirement age at 61 years old, a fifth of the industry could resign within the next six years.

Reprinted courtesy of James Barlow, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

The construction industry's lack of digitalization and new technologies mean that companies will struggle to fulfil projects as younger people choose to pursue a career in other industries, says GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that by adopting robotics technology at scale across the industry, companies can attract younger workers and maintain or increase their current productivity levels.

Two markets that can be lucrative for the construction industry are commercial drones and exoskeleton. According to GlobalData forecasts, the commercial drones segment was worth just $3.4 billion in 2020 but is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.6% to 2030 and will reach $57 billion. The exoskeleton market was worth $200 million in 2020, but it will be worth $10.9 billion in 2030, emerging as the fastest-growing robotics category with a CAGR of 49.0%.

In GlobalData's Construction Industry Sustainability Survey 2021 (159 respondents), 72% of respondents said the construction industry in their region was concerned or very concerned with the health and safety of construction workers. GlobalData's latest report, 'Robotics in Construction – Thematic Intelligence', identifies several other benefits that robots can bring to the industry such as construction robots, which can address these concerns by greatly increasing the safety of workers.

Natural gas power plant developer NET Power LLC, with partners Baker Hughes, Occidental Petroleum and Constellation Energy, will narrow selection of an EPC contractor by year end to build a $750-million utility scale power plant that it claims will be the world's first to burn natural gas with oxygen to generate power and produce pure carbon dioxide as a sellable byproduct with no harmful air emissions.

The thing about working for an elevator company that’s been hired to modernize the elevator in the Washington Monument is that, due to the very nature of the project, the only way to get to the machine room at the top is to walk. That’s up 897 cold iron steps, in a narrow, windowless staircase that spirals within the 555-foot-high structure.

Jose Carrasco thought it was great. The stairs have been closed to the public since the 1970s, but when Delaware Elevator Inc. (DEI) got the job to lift the monument’s elevator into the 21st century, Carrasco—the company’s vice president of construction modernization—relished “the opportunity that not many people have to walk the steps.”

Reprinted courtesy of Christopher Durso, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

Nonfatal workplace injuries resulting from falls continue to occur at a higher rate in the construction industry compared to the private industry at large. To heighten awareness and reinforce construction worksite safety measures around this ongoing problem, OSHA developed the National Safety Stand-Down campaign, which encourages contractors to emphasize the importance of fall prevention by training employees on the worksite hazards that lead to falls.

After an employee suffers a fall or direct blow to the head, healing from injuries incurred is of paramount importance. But depending on the type of injury, there could be underlying neurological impairments even after the musculoskeletal injuries have healed. These impairments can include dizziness or a persistent imbalance that occurs while walking, bending or performing other normal physical activities. These sudden, recurring bouts of unsteadiness can place a construction employee at higher risk of falling again on the job.

Reprinted courtesy of Michael Morgan, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

According to the Home Builders Institute, the construction industry needs an additional 2.2 million workers between now and 2024 to keep up with construction expansion and worker replacement. News outlets have called the situation “staggering” and “desperate.” But nobody should be saying it’s a surprise—or temporary. In Wipfli’s 2021 construction transition planning report, nearly 90% of construction leaders said they plan to start transitioning out of their companies in the next decade. Owners have been retiring and exiting the business in waves, taking a wealth of knowledge and skills with them.

Retirement is just one reason construction workers are walking away. Construction is tough, physical work. Sometimes, even dangerous. Companies have struggled to find workers who enjoy and thrive in the environment. It’s also hard to retain workers when wages and opportunities are plentiful outside the sector. The labor shortage is a ubiquitous problem, so construction firms are competing against “cushier” and “easier” career offers.

Reprinted courtesy of Tina Nazier, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.