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Taking the Bull By the Horns: How to Solve Labor Challenges in Construction

Sunday, Mar 05 2017
News Roundup
Written by  TPB Staff

From HR professionals to managers supervising construction crews, it’s a real challenge keeping up with labor issues in the industry. A number of resources—from staffing resources you can trust to informative blogs and reports, to recruiting on social media—can help you boost your hiring and stay up-to-speed on labor issues across various sectors of the industry.

  • First Research provides in-depth reports including reports on labor challenges across various sectors of the construction industry. When you visit the site, click on your sector of interest to view the report description.
  • Construction Business Owner has a variety of articles that address labor issues in the U.S. and abroad, illustrating the global reach of the problem. In the article linked here, four generations of workers are identified (Boomer, Gen-x, Millennial, Traditionalist) and their effect on labor market.
  • The Hartford Resource for Addressing Construction Labor Shortage. Not only does The Hartford have an informative post addressing where laborers will come from and the impact of skilled worker shortage, it also provides insights on topics such as hiring subcontractors; best practices for hiring to minimize workers’ comp claims; risk management; and safety and skills training.
  • How to Build a Construction Apprenticeship Program (PDF). Perhaps one of the best ways to bring onboard highly qualified tradeswomen and tradesmen—those with the potential to grow with your company—is to train them through an in-house apprenticeship program. This resource from Apprenticeship USA is a quick-start guide to creating a registered apprenticeship program. Another related resource is Key Capacities of Construction Pre-Apprenticeship Program (PDF) from the Aspen Institute Workforce Strategies Initiative. Also, check out Construct Connect for exceptional data and general information about the role of apprenticeships in supplying the construction industry with skilled laborers. A great example of an intensive on-the-job training program is Tradeswork, which was founded by the Mosby Building Arts out of St. Louis.
  • Tradesman International tailors a skilled staffing solution (or job search) to your needs. They help companies identify needs and find labor solutions for short-, long-term and peak season projects without having to add to the permanent payroll. If you are looking for a job, they also provide search services to match skilled laborers with employers.
  • Trillium Construction Staffing goes beyond providing reliable skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen and also offers safety training. Its full-time Safety Management team offers on-site training and certifications for a wide variety of OSHA topics as well as programs that cover workplace violence, train-the-trainer, machine guarding and more. Trillium’s staffing and employment services specialize in (but are not limited to) commercial, industrial, petro, oil and gas, and renewable energy among other industry segments.
  • Last, but not least, Go Social to Hire Skilled Workers. That’s right, targeted use of social media has become a powerful tool in recruiting new employees. Not only can relevant use of social media raise awareness about your brand, it helps you connect directly with potential candidates and network with local trade schools and college construction management programs.
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