Construction companies face shortage of skilled workers

Tri-City construction

companies must try harder than ever to recruit skilled workers.

Amos Construction

recently stationed an employee holding a “now hiring” sign on a busy street in

Kennewick.

“I’ve run radio ads,

placed ads on Craigslist in three cities, done the signage, done logos, I’ve

Facebook advertised, and I still can’t find enough employees,” said company

owner Steve Amos.

Take a drive anywhere

around the region and it’s apparent: new homes and businesses going up.

Though business is

booming, constructions companies say job openings are hard to fill.

“Some companies have

to pass on bids because they don’t have enough people,” said Joel Bouchey,

regional coordinator for Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors. “The

other part is the workforce in construction is aging.”

And those older

workers are not being replaced with a younger workforce.

“Mainly,

there is a lack of desire,” said George Booth of Booth and Sons Construction

Inc. of Kennewick. “In (young people’s) minds, it’s no longer respectable to do

this. Some of the guys I have, at the end of the day, they go home and clean up

before they go to the grocery store because they’re afraid of being looked down

on.”

So where are the

younger workers?

Many have gone to

college. “A large point is the fact public education has told everyone you need

to go to college after high school,” said Booth, 36, who has been helping with

the family business since age 5. “There is a push to value the white-collar

worker over the blue-collar worker. So it’s looked down on. There are a few of

us who are college educated and we’re happy to get our hands dirty or sweaty.”

Booth went to college

after high school.

“I did the whole

college thing. My parents bought into it. ‘You need to get an engineering

degree,’ they told me,” he said. 

But Booth also liked

the family business, and he decided to stick with that after school. 

“It’s good,

respectable work. And it keeps me humble,” he said.

Brad Boler, a senior

project manager for G2 Construction of Kennewick, said he has the same problem

finding younger workers.

“It’s a combination of

things,” Boler said. “Since it’s kind of hard to find good help, you have to

hold on hard to them, so they don’t leave.”

That means paying a

few dollars more an hour, he said. Or promoting them up the company ladder.

But Boler says that

still might not be enough.

“Younger people find

construction to be such a boring industry,” he said. “They’ll say, ‘It’s not

for me.’ I find I have to go through 10 applicants to find two good workers.

Young guys who know what they’re doing can shoot up the charts in the company.”

Booth agreed. “If guys

are skilled enough, we’ll move them up the ladder,” he said. “I’m trying to

find the guys who couldn’t afford college, that are young, maybe trying to

settle down, build a family.”

Boler looks for the

same demographic: the 26- to 28-year-old looking to settle down and establish a

career.

Boler said he recently

was talking to a longtime contractor about the problem.

“When I was younger,

about 15 years ago, in the labor forces there were so many badasses,” he said.

“Guys who could do everything. Now, there are just a few guys who are jacks of

all trades.”

The labor shortage

isn’t just a Tri-City problem. It’s statewide and nationwide.

According to a 2018

Associated General Contractors of America survey, 80 percent of contractors

nationwide report difficulty finding qualified craft workers.

Eighty-three

Washington state contractors took the survey, and 83 percent said they expected

to hire additional or replacement hourly craft personnel in the next 12 months;

89 percent said they were having a hard time filling salaried and hourly craft

positions; and 51 percent said they’re having a difficult time hiring project

managers and supervisors compared to the previous year.

Many of those surveyed

said they’ve had difficulty finding electricians, carpenters and installers.

Forty-one

percent said they believe it will become harder to hire qualified personnel in

the next year, with half of those surveyed saying the current crop of craft

personnel are poorly trained or skilled.

Sixty-four percent

said they’re losing people to other construction firms.

To that end, 58

percent said they’ve increased the base pay rate to try to fill those spots.

Here are some other

state survey highlights:

• 49

percent have engaged with career-building programs through high schools,

colleges or other career and technical education programs.

• 41

percent worked with unions.

• 52

percent initiated or increased in-house training.

• 39

percent said they offered overtime.

• 51

percent said projects have taken longer than anticipated and 48 percent said

they have had to put higher prices into their bids or contracts because of the

staffing challenges.

Boler said there are

so many avenues to advertise for openings, his company uses just a few.

“You can’t get to them

all,” he said.

Amos said he recently

spent $3,500 a month in advertising.

“My staff spends time

daily on this, about 30 hours a week,” he said.

In comparison, he said

five years ago it may have been just two to three hours a week.

And even if you hire

someone, that doesn’t mean they’ll show up, he said.

“I spend two hours

interviewing them, paying them $20 to $25 an hour, go over the employee

handbook,” said Amos, who said he has seen it all in his 20 years as an owner.

“I have them sign the paperwork. And then they never show up the next morning.”

They’re money chasers,

who flit from job to job to make a few bucks more an hour, he said. He’s also

familiar with the baby dodgers, who owe back child support.

Amos completes

required paperwork, which includes the worker’s Social Security number. A few

weeks later, he might get a letter about the back child support, but that

worker has already left.

Amos also has seen a

tactic called tailgating.

“Some contractors will

pay these guys in cash,” Amos said. “They’ll say, ‘You’ve worked 60 hours this

week. Put down 30 hours on your time card and I’ll pay you 30 hours in cash.’

It’s not legal. I play by the books. I pay all of my taxes. These LLCs get away

with murder. They need to change the laws.”

And then there are the

poachers.

“There are contractors

who go to jobs to steal people,” he said. “I’ve seen it. It’s not moral. There

is no integrity there. But I do believe in karma.”

Staffing challenges

also affect construction project timelines and their crews’ stability.

“A company might have

five projects you’re working on at the same time,” Boler said. “Those are

supposed to start at a certain time. Maybe you don’t have enough jobs right now,

so you don’t need as many people. But maybe you land a job, and you’re going

through permit hell. Some of the permits don’t come through in a timely matter,

and that’s no one’s fault.”

Boler’s company is

going through that right now. G2 Construction won the bid to build three STCU

credit unions in the Tri-Cities.

“They were supposed to

go six months, six months and six months,” he said. “We finished one in

November, but we’re having permit issues. Now instead of 18 months to get all

three done, it’s more like three in three years. All of these different factors

come into place, and you have to be flexible.”

Young workers, he

said, get impatient and move on.

Bouchey said there are

many public works jobs to improve aging facilities, and the Tri-City construction

industry is healthy.

“The Tri-Cities

economy has looked excellent for a decade and it’s not slowing down,” he said.

“This is not a bubble. It’s not going away. And we want them (the young

workforce).”

Washington state’s

construction industry is growing.

From March 2018 to

March 2019, there has been a gain of 10,000 construction workers throughout

this state; this ranks No. 15 in the nation.

At the same time, the

state Department of Labor and Industries reports injuries are up.

There were 175 cases

of cuts or lacerations among teen workers in 2018. There were another 150 cases

of sprains and strains, and 85 more reported cases of bruises and contusions.

“All of our members

are truly dedicated to safety,” Bouchey said.

Amos said he takes

training seriously in his shop.

“We started an

in-house apprenticeship program,” he said. “We’ve picked up some good guys

doing this. There are some young guys who want to learn.”

Amos will put them

into the field to work, then maybe the next week they’re in the office for

training. The following week they’re back out on a project, returning the

following week for more training. That goes on for a while.

“A lot of contractors

won’t take the risk,” Amos said. “It’s really hard for a young person to get

into a trade. And we focus hard on the safety factor (in the program).”

Bouchey said Inland

Northwest Associated General Contractors also has apprenticeship programs. The

organization also has started a website, whatwillyoubuild.org, which helps

young people understand the construction industry and its benefits.

“And we’re getting

into the school districts,” he said. “We’ve done safety training with the Pasco

kids, juniors and seniors, to get them workforce ready. We’d like to see them

put wood shop back into school.”

Bouchey’s group is

talking to the Pasco School District to create a math course dedicated to

applied mathematics for engineering.

“So we’re starting to

move the needle,” he said. “We want to see a willingness to work hard, work a

full day and put the cellphone away.”

And Amos, as

frustrated as he is with the lack of candidates, believes things will come

around again where people will want to work in the business.

“The skilled trades are an awesome place to be,” he said. “You can

make $80,000 a year, get retirement, health insurance, dental benefits. All of

that. Anybody who says there isn’t money in this industry doesn’t know the

industry.”