ABC Members Experience Skilled Worker Shortage
According to a survey of ABC members, 75 percent of
respondents’ companies are experiencing a shortage of willing and qualified
craft professionals. These results support the findings of the Construction
Labor Market Analyzers’ 20/20 Foresight Report, which shows there will be a
nationwide shortage of nearly 2 million skilled craft workers by 2017.
The worker shortage is likely the result of the nearly 30
percent of the construction workforce lost at the peak of the recession
combined with an aging workforce, an insufficient pipeline of new workers and
lost workers that moved on to other industries.
ABC and its 70 chapters have been working hard to close that
gap through a combined effort of training, promoting construction as a viable
career path and working with federal legislators to increase access to
temporary workers.
ABC also supports U.S. immigration policy reform that
facilitates a sustainable workforce. ABC and its members are encouraging
members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support a bill that includes an
effective guest worker program that responds to labor market demand and does
not burden the construction industry with inflexible requirements and arbitrary
caps. The industry must be able to legally supplement its workforce when there
are not a sufficient number of willing or able American workers to continue to
meet U.S. construction demand.
(From ABC Newsline)
Trenton H. Cotney
Florida Bar Certified Construction Lawyer
Trent Cotney, P.A.
1211 N Franklin St
Tampa, FL 33602
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