AGC Survey: Construction Firms Struggling to Find Enough Workers

Simonson noted that nearly nine out of 10 firms (88%) are experiencing project delays. Among these firms, 75% cite delays due to longer lead times or shortages of materials, while 57% cite delivery delays. About 61% of firms said their projects are being delayed because of workforce shortages. And delays due to the lack of approvals or inspectors, or an owner’s directive to halt or redesign a project, were each cited by 30% of contractors.

An even higher percentage of firms, 93%, report that rising materials costs have affected their projects. These rising materials costs are undermining firms’ abilities to profit from the work they have, with 37% reporting they have been unsuccessful in passing those added costs onto project owners.

As a result of these supply chain challenges, more than half of firms report having projects canceled, postponed or scaled back due to increasing costs. About 26% of firms report their projects have been delayed or canceled because of lengthening or uncertain completion times and 22% say changing market conditions have led to project delays or cancellations.

These challenging market conditions are a key reason why 26% of respondents expect it will take more than six months for their firm’s revenue to match or exceed year-earlier levels. And 17% are unsure when to expect a return to previous demand levels.

While the pandemic has led to project delays and cancellations nationwide, contractor expectations of recovery do vary by region. Some 40% of respondents in the Northeast expect it will take more than six months for their firm’s volume of business to return to normal, compared to only 12% of respondents in the Midwest, 22% in the West, and 34% in the South.

There are also some differences by project type and revenue size. For instance, 100% of building contractors and 97% of firms that work on federal government projects report at least some projects were canceled, postponed or scaled back, compared to 61% of utility infrastructure contractors and 56% of highway and transportation contractors. Two-thirds of the firms with revenues that exceeded $500 million increased their headcount in the past 12 months, compared to just over half (53%) of midsized firms—those with revenues of $50.1 million to $500 million—and slightly more than one-third (36%) of firms with revenues of $50 million or less.

Despite these challenges, contractors report as much difficulty filling positions as they experienced before the pandemic. About 89% of firms that are seeking to fill hourly craft positions report having a hard time doing so. And 86% of firms seeking to fill salaried positions are also having a hard time hiring.

There are two main reasons so many firms report having trouble finding workers to hire. The first is that 72% of firms say available candidates are not qualified to work in the industry due to a lack of skills, failure to pass a drug test, etc. The lack of qualified candidates affects union and open-shop firms almost equally: 70% of firms that always use union craft workers exclusively and 74% of open-shop firms report a lack of qualified candidates. And 58% of respondents report that unemployment insurance supplements are keeping workers away.

“Challenges often drive resolve, and we started to see this acutely in the construction industry last year” said Allison Scott, director of construction thought leadership and customer marketing at Autodesk. “The continued investments in hiring, training and technology highlighted in this year’s study show that even while dealing with ongoing challenges nearly two years into the pandemic, the industry remains committed to building better with a resilient workforce.”

Association officials called on Washington leaders to take steps to help address challenging market conditions and labor shortages. They urged House members to quickly pass a bipartisan infrastructure measure that already passed in the Senate. And they called on the Biden administration and Congress to work together to boost investments in career and technical education.

“The federal government currently spends only one dollar on career training for every six it puts into college prep, despite the fact only one-in-three jobs requires a college degree,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “Boosting federal investments in career and technical education will help attract and prepare more people into high-paying careers in construction.”

The association and Autodesk conducted the Workforce Survey in late July and early August. Over 2,100 firms completed the survey from a broad cross-section of the construction industry, including union and open shop firms of all sizes. The 2021 Workforce Survey is the association’s ninth annual workforce-related survey. Click here for survey materials including national, regional and state fact sheets, survey analysis and event remarks.