SURPRISE - The #construction industry needs more workers! Of course that comes as no surprise to many (most?) people in the industry who have watched demand soar over the last several years. The Associated Builders and Contractors recently adjusted its outlook to show a demand in 2026 of 349,000 new workers needed, while Deloitte's 2026 Engineering and Construction Industry Outlook places the number at 499,000, and LinkedIn's own Jobs on the Rise 2026 report (see at https://lnkd.in/gxUU5cyn ) places construction leaders on its list of predictions of the fastest growing jobs in the U.S. this year. Does it matter if the number is 349,000 versus 499,000? I don't think so, either way, it's a big number and its highly dependent on some hard to predict variables. But when you take all the reports and predictions together, the trend is clear. We need more people in the industry. There is also one fact that should not be overlooked when evaluating industry demand: >>Much of the demand is being created by the increasing numbers of construction personnel that are retiring in the next five years, with the Deloitte report stating that 41% of the workforce is expected to retire by 2031 while only 10% of the current workers are under the age of 25. There are three reasons this is important to understand: 1. This is a critical imbalance in an industry that has been traditionally overlooked by many potential job seekers. 2. The retiring demographic holds the bulk of the knowledge of "how to build" - it's not just the trade skills we can teach; it's the foundational knowledge that we need to transfer before it leaves. 3. The problem cannot be addressed overnight - it will take time to attract and properly train the future construction workforce. This is go-time for the construction industry! Everyone in the industry needs to be working on improving our image, creating opportunities for knowledge transfer, and doing their part to support training and mentorship. Check out the article below and let me know if you think that the construction industry holds some of the next decade's must-have roles! #constructionishard #alwaysbelearning https://lnkd.in/getAKfev
Jim Rogers
1mo
And McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. Is stepping up right now to take the actions we need to ensure we can build the future! https://www.linkedin.com/posts/engineering-news-record_workforcedevelopment-constructionleadership-activity-7423017595446046720-kuo8
Bobbie Koszarsky
1mo
Unfortunately over the years we pushed college and desk jobs over the trades and now we are seeing the results. As far as the complaints about the wages, my husband is a high school educated steamfitter who makes $20,000 more than me a year, has the most amazing benefits, and this year is receiving a generous bonus to reflect his work. The days of looking at blue collar work as less should have been gone a long time ago. The technical skills and opportunities to learn that he has been given throughout his career cannot be overlooked. If you put in the work, and take advantage of the opportunities offered to you, the trades can be a great career. More tradesmen need to going to the high schools to present these type of scenarios to the students. It was a nurse who came to my school all those years ago that influenced my decision. Tradesmen could and should do the same.
Mike Matusky
1mo
Interesting to compare the construction industry with some of our big retailers: I see a Costco and Trader Joes effect versus the Walmart effect. The first two operate under a "happy employees make for happy (repeat) customers" orientation. As such they see value in retaining and training their workers. The other sid of the coin looks like "pay as little as possible, don't incur costs for training or benefits, and replace as needed". Employee churn is then largel determined by the availability of alternate employment. When a trainer is asked by a manager "What if I train them and they leave?" the obvious answer is "What if you don't and they stay?"
Colten Mansfield
1mo
Good point made, I would even say, amazing fact. But nothing amazing about those numbers. What I see is that the industry is going to have to become much more creative to get these workers, they will not be just walking through the front door. The fact of the matter; there are a lot of variables at play, but still completely plausible to be resolved. Given enough thought, leadership teaching, and more education at younger ages. Then there's a whole discussion for getting conversions from other industries, I have heard plenty before how persons wish they could build things, but never had the opportunities. Target market for new hires is going to need to be thought about thoroughly.
"2. The retiring demographic holds the bulk of the knowledge of "how to build" - it's not just the trade skills we can teach; it's the foundational knowledge that we need to transfer before it leaves." Number 2 is my favorite because it revealed that the lowest-hanging fruit is the one already there. Incentivizing the soon-to-retire means training them to listen to the greatest concerns of the incoming pool. This career allows them to be both builders and investors. Thank you for the thought-provoking prompt.
SeaRay Beltran
1mo
Yup, it's very sad to see and less of the young less care working adults don't want to do eork let alone construction. The kids want easy money with less work.
Jim - this is great, I wasn't tracking the large retirement boom. Ouch. My thought is it's always a good time to work on the leadership teams - people quit people, not the job. Having an outstanding, emphatic, and effective leadership team can do wonders for the top and bottom line.
Markus Dezelak
1mo
For all those people who’s career will be affected by AI. Come join a skilled trade. Many construction jobs will always need a human at the helm.
Bill Rosemeier
1mo
Yep! We gotta problem with that. Been that way for quite awhile. Shit takes twice sometime 3 times as Iong to get it done compared to back in the 60s and 70s. Been on the decline since. Same reasons to. And aint nothing much Been done about it. Cause there isn't a suffient reason to change how it works. Its gettin worse to. Till theres suffient reason not much is gonna change.
Also check out - Who Holds the Knowledge Now - from LinkedIn Learning at https://www.linkedin.com/learning/construction-management-the-future-workforce/who-holds-the-knowledge-now