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Craft shortages continue to be a boon for experienced workers who are commanding top pay for their high-demand skills. On the other hand, rising wages in a shortage environment tend to benefit unskilled workers also, and employers are too often paying premium wages for insufficient training and lower productivity. Why? Because bodies are needed and employers must compete for every craft worker.The Engineering News-Record article titled Craft Pay Ramps Up As Worker Gaps Grow (October 2015), points out that as construction spending increases toward pre-recession peaks, worker pay is following suit, and some employers are seeing the largest pay escalation in decades. In fact, the Construction Labor Market Analyzer (CLMA) projects wage and per diem escalation of 2-4% over the next few years with the most highly skilled crafts expected to grow at the greatest rates.
Reshaping the Construction Industry
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Hi there. The Chamberlin Man here.There are many things for an owner to consider and calculate when redeveloping a real estate asset. Should it be torn down for something sleek and new? Should it be renovated or possibly repurposed? One client was considering those same options with their Art Deco 1960s office development that was significantly lacking curb appeal. Removing it altogether and building something new was definitely on the table; however, taking into consideration its location, architectural significance and market potential, demolition was not the most desirable or economical alternative.3701 Kirby, a 12-story office building and 3801 Kirby, which is seven-stories, are located in Houston’s Greenway Plaza district just north of Interstate 59. Many tenants hang their hat here including oil and gas companies, law offices and design and architectural shops.
November 03, 2015
Spending accelerates in September but fewer metros and states add jobs than in AugustEditor’s note: Construction Citizen is proud to partner with AGC America to bring you AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's Data DIGest. Check back each week to get Ken's expert analysis of what's happening in our industry.Construction spending in September reached a seven-year high of $1.094 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, 0.6% higher than the August rate and 14% higher than a year before, the Census Bureau reported today. The year-over-year growth rate was the fastest since January 2006. Year-over-year growth was widespread, but monthly declines for private nonresidential construction may signal contractors' difficulty finding enough workers with the right skills or new caution on the part of investors and owners. Private nonresidential spending slid 0.7% for the month but increased 15% over 12 months; private residential climbed 1.9% and 17%, respectively; and public construction, 0.7% and 9.4%.
November 02, 2015
It was great to see the Houston Business Journal this week take note of the great work being done by the Construction Career Collaborative (C3) in Houston. Writing for the Houston Business Journal, Roxanna Asgarian said:“The construction industry in Houston, and nationally, has long struggled to bring in enough new workers to maintain its skilled workforce."A number of Houston organizations have begun the long and difficult process to change that. Chuck Gremillion is the executive director of Construction Career Collaborative, or C3. He's tasked with making the profession safer and more attractive to new workers."Asgarian described some of the challenges facing the industry, including the fact that the workforce is made up mainly of retiring Baby Boomers, which helps contribute to an unsustainable situation.There are other issues as well:"C3 has come up with standards for general contractors and subcontractors, including mandatory safety training, hourly wages instead of project-based pay, and workers' compensation insurance.
October 30, 2015
The scope of work on the books for the next 10 years for the Texas Gulf Coast is unprecedented. If manpower cannot be secured at competitive rates, it is quite likely these plants won't be built or the projects will be moved elsewhere.
October 29, 2015
Who's responsible for erasing America's shortage of skilled workers? That is the question posed by The Atlantic last month in a story on why our workforce suffers from unemployment and underemployment while businesses say there is a shortage of workers with the skills needed to fill thousands of jobs. October is Careers in Construction Month, so let’s talk specifics about who will build the communities of the future. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says we will need 1.6 million new construction workers by 2022. Already about four in five members of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) say there is a shortage of skilled labor, and a quarter of construction workers are expected to retire in the next ten years.That’s a big challenge, but ABC is making headway in attracting talented people to construction. Our members invest $1.1 billion annually in training – that’s billion with a “B”!
October 28, 2015
Houston-based contractor Halliburton is set to pay out millions of dollars to hundreds of employees in one of the largest settlements for unpaid overtime in the history of the Department of Labor. The government has given the contractor credit, however, for working in good faith to resolve the issue in a timely manner as soon as the problem was discovered during an internal audit.The company will pay $18.3 million to 1,016 employees. Halliburton has 70,000 employees, so this is a relatively small portion of its total workforce.In a statement issued to the Houston Chronicle, Susie McMichael with Halliburton said the company discovered during a self-audit that the workers had been denied overtime pay when they were actually entitled to it because of their employment status.
October 27, 2015
The following is a presentation Mike Stilley, Director of Training and Development at S&B Engineers and Constructors, did for the Gulf Coast CTE Regional Career and Technical Education Directors’ meeting in September. Shortage of Qualified Workers Has Reached Acute ProportionsThere is an acute shortage of skilled craft professionals in our industry. We absolutely need career and technical education. You probably have heard this for a long time: yes, there really is a shortage of workers in the construction industry. There has been a shortage for a long time. You have a lot of resources in your school and there are opportunities for young people to get into the industry. When I was in high school, and it might take a grey head here to know what I am talking about, we had shop classes. These shop programs, however, have long dropped off the radar.
October 26, 2015
The following article originally appeared in the October newsletter to clients of Kiley Advisors, LLC. Reprinted with permission.Now it’s Volkswagen; they have been deliberately cheating, spending corporate money to consciously violate the law. This news broke shortly after GM and Toyota paid fines respectively of $900 Million and $1.2 Billion for deliberate cover ups of their ignition problems that also resulted in several hundred deaths. These headlines bring back memories of the Ford/Pinto scandal, another deliberate cover-up of problems that resulted in deaths.Then there are the wimpy wonders of Wall Street, those brilliant minds that by their marginal schemes and lack of leadership guts brought us the markets of 2009-2012, the greatest financial collapse since the great depression. They now whine that they are “victims” of too many regulations as the five leading global banks paid fines of $5.7 Billion for deliberately manipulating the foreign exchange rates. And then there is “Deflate Gate.”
October 23, 2015
Six people are hurt and lawsuits are expected after a scaffolding collapse in downtown Houston. The accident, high profile because of the location and the number of people hurt, has prompted questions about safety on such job sites as well as workers’ compensation coverage.The facts are under investigation. But this kind of accident highlights the fact that workers’ comp is absolutely critical for those who toil on projects all across Texas – one of the very few states where such coverage is optional.KTRK television reports:“A judge has granted a restraining order against companies connected with last week's scaffolding collapse. An attorney for the most seriously injured victim filed the temporary restraining order, or TRO, this afternoon and it was granted.
October 22, 2015
