Oklahoma construction companies want to hire more craft personnel in the next 12 months, but they’re having a hard time finding them, according to a workforce survey by the Associated General Contractors of America.
No respondents said it’s easier this year to hire positions like carpenters, heavy equipment operators, truck drivers, mechanics, welders and concrete workers. AGC Chief economist Ken Simonson said federal labor statistics show job openings at record levels and construction unemployment at a series low.
"In other words, contractors are spending longer filling jobs and have fewer experienced workers to choose from," Simonson said.
More than three-fourths of Oklahoma construction firms surveyed said they’re offering higher pay to attract craft personnel, but most are still losing workers to other industries or simply not finding them.
Simonson said they can't just turn to the hold hands, either.
"Those pools of former construction workers, they’ve either been hired, they’ve retired or they’ve gone on to other industries. So, you can’t just call back somebody who was laid off years ago. They aren’t sitting around waiting for that call anymore," Simonson said.
In Oklahoma, 63 percent of companies surveyed said the worker shortage is making projects take longer than anticipated.
The workforce shortage is consistent across the U.S., and AGC has some asks of the federal government to help.
"Including doubling the amount of money invested in career and technical education at the federal level over the next five years. We also call for long-overdue reforms to the nation’s immigration laws that will allow, among other things, more people with construction skills to legally enter the country," Simonson said.
In Oklahoma, 73 percent of firms surveyed described the pipeline for well-trained craft personnel as "poor."
