We talk quite a bit about the number of jobs that the construction industry is trying to fill. A cultural shift that a 4-year college education is the only way to continue beyond high school is leaving a gap across all trades and the industry is feeling the crunch. For men and women willing to put in a hard day’s work, filling these construction jobs can be very rewarding financially.
Steve Green, VP for the National Center for Construction Education and Research claims some of those jobs can hit income at or above $100,000 a year.
How Do $100,000 Construction Jobs Go Unfilled?
There’s a gap of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the trades. Living in a capitalist society, tradesmen and women are in high demand and short supply – meaning companies are willing to pay more for their services. Even our friend Todd Fratzel from Tool Box Buzz tells us about the trouble he has getting workers across the board from entry level all the way up.
Construction is hard work, there’s no getting around it. There’s also travel that you can expect to take additional time. However, if you’re in a stage of your life to pursue it, have a knack for doing things well, and aren’t afraid of hard work, you can make a darn fine living without dragging student loans along. Once you throw in overtime, it’s absolutely conceivable to hit the $100,000 mark.
The combination of construction’s hard work and the cultural perception that college is the only way to get ahead do their part to pull potential Pros away from the trades.
How About Backing Up Some of Those Claims?
We won’t change the perception of the trades without real data to back up the claims that the work is in demand and financially rewarding. Fox Business recently ran a story that detailed some of this. Read the full story here.
- 75% of contractors are looking for new hires (Associated General Contractors of America, AGC)
- 53% expect to have difficulty finding qualified Pros (AGC)
- 60% of construction companies are increasing base level pay to attract new or keep current Pros (AGC)
- 36% are providing bonuses and other incentives to draw in or keep more Pros (AGC)
What’s Next?
My crystal ball is a bit foggy, but there are some likely lines of progression we can follow. If there aren’t enough workers to build homes, offices, and other buildings, we could see the cost rise. Noone really wants that since it would likely slow down the housing market.
Another possibility is that new technology introduced. That’s not optimal, either, since it removes the need for at least part of the human workforce. It’s likely that as that technology develops and becomes financially feasible, more efficient processes develop to fill the gap.
The best possible outcome is that we go back to encouraging our children to consider the trades, especially when we see they have an aptitude for hands-on work. If our current 16- to 18-year-olds can see the benefit of learning a trade, making an excellent living, and having almost guaranteed work available, we’ll see an industry that continues to strengthen our economy.
