Replenishing the construction industry’s bench
Arcoro's Carrie Gardenhire highlights in "Roads & Bridges" that despite the $350 billion federal investment from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act fueling highway projects, the construction industry faces significant labor shortages with record job openings in 2023, prompting a focus on replenishing the workforce by recruiting and training students, supported by HR technology solutions.
Arcoro's Carrie Gardenhire contributed an article to "Roads & Bridges."
The Long Game
Replenishing the construction industry’s bench one student at a time
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) directs $350 billion toward federal highway programs. Construction companies want to expand and accept additional projects, but hiring challenges are causing some restraint.
In 2023, construction job openings reached record numbers, emphasizing the severity of the industry’s labor shortage…
Read the entire article HERE.
See a demo of how HR technology can help your construction business.
Related
Arcoro’s Insights: Looking Back on 2024 - Arcoro
In 2024, Arcoro leveraged its deep expertise in construction HR to provide industry-specific insights and solutions—highlighted in various publications by experts like Carrie Gardenhire and Samantha Stephenson—that addressed workforce challenges such as labor shortages, talent pipeline development through student internships, and increasing female recruitment, ultimately helping construction companies become more strategic, compliant, and better equipped to handle hiring and operational demands amid record job openings.
Tackling the Talent Gap in Construction
The 2024 AGC and Arcoro Workforce Survey reveals that despite employing over 8 million workers, the US construction industry faces a significant skilled labor shortage causing project delays, prompting companies to focus on culture-driven recruitment, upskilling, and retention strategies, though many have yet to fully leverage technology and data analytics for workforce management and strategic planning.
Are You Ready for 2025’s Workforce Challenges?
Contractors in 2025 continue to face significant workforce challenges, particularly a severe shortage of skilled construction workers—exacerbated by 7.4 million job openings nationwide, 288,000 in construction alone, widespread recruitment difficulties reported by 94% of firms, project delays affecting over half of contractors, and long-term trends such as fewer young people entering trades, competition from other industries, wage demands, and skill gaps.
Demographic Shifts Heighten the Competition for Workers
The construction industry's worker shortage, reported by 94% of firms in 2024, is being intensified by global demographic shifts including declining birth rates since 2007, an aging population, and a shrinking pool of 18-year-olds entering the workforce, with projections indicating over 85 million unfilled jobs by 2030 and a 15% decrease in 18-year-olds by 2039, compounded by a decline in men over 20 participating in the labor force due to retirement and social challenges.
Building a Skills Development Program That Actually Retains Construction Workers
The article emphasizes that addressing the construction industry's workforce crisis requires not just hiring but retaining workers through structured skills development programs that engage employees, improve retention, reduce hiring costs, and enhance work quality by offering formal training, coaching, mentoring, and learning opportunities that make employees feel valued and invested in the company's future.
Recruiting Resources | Arcoro
Arcoro offers a collection of specialized HR and recruiting resources for the construction industry, including strategies to attract Gen Z workers, workforce planning to close the skills gap by 2026, the importance of hiring veterans, benefits of applicant tracking systems, and best practices for recruiting and onboarding to improve employee retention.