Addressing Shortage of Skilled Craft Workers in the U.S.

The construction industry’s skilled worker pool continues to shrink. The decreasing number of young people entering the work force and the failure to recruit from non-traditional labor pools both contribute to this troublesome trend. Over the past 30 years, real wages of construction workers have declined relative to those of other workers. Poor industry image, tough working conditions, and the industry’s perceived poor safety record also have contributed to the decline in the number of people willing to enter and remain in the industry. 

There is a need for a structured workforce management strategy that can be used to effectively manage a workforce regardless of its skill level. The construction industry has experienced a shortage of skilled craft workers and will continue to experience the shortage unless revolutionary methods are put in place to address the problem. 

RT-182 research presents a Tier I strategy, an implementation of industry accepted best practices to improve the management and utilization of the work force. It is important to note that the focus for Tier I is on the management and supervision of the work force on a project. The Tier I Strategy is one solution and there are other solutions that have been explored in other research. Employers and construction practitioners need to be able to begin to implement some aspects of those strategies to produce results that can be measured today. 

The Tier I Strategy is proposed as a way to increase productivity and more effectively utilize and manage the workforce on a project to produce almost immediate measurable benefits on that project. It is not a revolutionary strategy in itself, but the concepts and elements of the strategy will serve as building blocks for more complex and extensive structured workforce development programs in the construction industry.