For construction, a “Help Wanted” sign is familiar, as the demand for new workers has continued to outpace the supply.
The industry has faced a compounding labor shortage for decades, and, in 2022, a perfect storm of swirling factors could both aid and exacerbate the issue.
For most of 2021, jobs were stagnant in construction, according to numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Construction began the year with roughly 7.4 million jobs, seasonally adjusted, and the last report of the year indicated 7.5 million jobs in November. That’s the closest construction’s employment numbers have been to prepandemic numbers since March 2020, when the industry employed 7.6 million workers.
