Phoenix Subcontractors Fighting a Skilled Labor Shortage [1]
The housing numbers came out last week and Bloomberg News reported on the shortages of skilled carpenters and construction workers in the hot, hot, hot Phoenix housing market. According to the report penned by Bloomberg reporter Prashant Gopal [8], the housing market has improved from the crash and is now close to a three year high.
That improvement in the market combined with the passage of SB-1070 [9], the Arizona immigration bill that sent a large number of undocumented workers back to their homes in Mexico, has created a skilled worker shortage that one contractor called a real “knife fight” for labor in the market.
According to the report, the inventory of previously owned homes in Phoenix dropped 54% from a year earlier, and the median price of previously owned homes jumped 25% to $140,000. The sales of new homes has jumped by 43% over a year ago and the median price for those homes rose 4.6% to $207,000. That activity has driven the demand for new home construction up, and has created the shortages in the skilled construction workforce.
Oh yes, and the average hourly wage for construction workers rose from $19.53 a year ago to $20.72 this year.
Good news for the skilled construction workforce looking for work, and bad news for those subcontractors looking for the workforce that will enable them to meet the demand.