Are you struggling to find qualified, skilled workers for your job sites? You are not alone.

In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are nearly 300,000 job openings in the home building industry and according to Associated General Contractors of America, 72% of general contractors believe the labor shortage will be their biggest hurdle this year.

What is causing the labor shortage?

The homebuilding industry is no stranger to a labor shortage. Many skilled workers left when the housing market bottomed out after the Great Recession and our industry has struggled to fully rebound from this.

Now, seasoned workers are retiring. According to the National Center for Construction Education & Research, about 41% of the current workforce will retire in the next ten years on top of those who already have. Unfortunately, there are less people entering the workforce than leaving it, contributing to the employment gap. This is due to multiple factors, including less shop classes being offered in schools, the Millennial and Gen Z push to pursue four-year university degrees and the general misconception and stigma that construction and the trade industry are “dirty jobs.”

How the labor shortage affects consumers  

Labor represents approximately 30 to 40 percent of the cost of a typical new home. When there is a shortage of available labor, it causes construction delays and extended project completion dates, which creates further costs and a decreased capacity level for businesses. This then leads to a lower supply of available homes and drives the prices of homebuilding. A labor shortage negatively impacts both the housing supply and affordability for potential homeowners.

What BAGI is doing to fight the labor shortage  

At BAGI, our Workforce Development Task Force is committed to creating and finding the right resources, partnership and opportunities to help develop skilled workforce that will support our members and industry through the future.

Some of these workforce development initiatives include:

Indiana Construction Roundtable Foundation

BAGI has a successful partnership with ICRF and is continuing its relationship with the organization, helping them on their mission to inform, encourage and empower individuals to pursue a career in the construction industry. We hope to gain membership engagement in:

  • Expanding our partnership with Build Your Future Indiana
  • Identifying and enhancing high school program opportunities
  • Participating in Build Yourself (BY) Training events

Hub & Spoke

Hub & Spoke is developing an internship program to help students interested in pursuing a career in home construction by providing them the opportunity to learn, gain experience and make connections. BAGI is assisting in the creation of the internship program and aiding in promotional efforts to motivate BAGI members to host students in their companies as interns.

TraLaMa

TraLaMa is an online platform where businesses can find skilled trade labor and tradesmen can find employment. We’re partnering with TraLaMa to help introduce it to the Indianapolis homebuilding industry, providing our members unlimited job listings and other opportunities this emerging tool can offer.

Through these efforts and more, BAGI is working to strengthen and enhance our local building community. If you are interested in helping with our workforce development initiatives, or are interested in seeing how BAGI can help you with your recruitment efforts, contact us.