Crisis Point:
The Construction Industry
Needs An Additional
2,000 + workers a day
83 workers per hour
1 worker every minute
A TOTAL OF 2.2 MILLION NEW WORKERS
Yes, you read that right. To meet housing demand, the construction industry needs to place 740,000* workers into construction jobs each year for the next three years. These are staggering numbers, so how did we get here?
Industry growth, younger workers leaving the trades, career workers retiring, COVID… have all accelerated a labor shortage we’ve seen for years. Today, the impact is more severe than ever. Without these workers:
– What does get built will cost more
– Access to credit will become more restricted
*Fall 2021 edition
HBI Construction Labor Market Report, data provided by National Association of Home Builders.
It's a nationwide problem that's getting national attention.
IT'S AN ALL-HANDS-ON DECK MOMENT
Today, the Home Builders Institute (HBI) is calling on builders, contractors, suppliers, advocates, and policymakers to collaborate on how to meet housing demand and attract, train, and retain home building’s next generation of skilled workers. Here’s how:
- Work with secondary school students, and their influencers, to change perceptions of careers in construction
- Increase worker pay while balancing the need to keep homeownership affordable
- Attract more women into construction careers
- Train and place more minority and lower-income youth and adults
- Increase trade skills education for veterans and transitioning military
- Work for bipartisan approaches to sensible immigration policies
