The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has played a large part in this confidence boost. Respondents were most optimistic about highway and bridge construction, with 63% expecting a large dollar value of projects to compete for. They were also upbeat for transit projects, such as rail and airports, with a net positive reading of 51%.
Despite nearly three-quarters of firms expecting to hire in 2022, 83% of respondents reported continuing troubles filling salaried or hourly craft positions. Three-fourths of respondents said they expect the difficulty to continue.
