Construction firms, once starved for work during the downturn, now say they cannot find enough qualified talent to take on new projects. The problem is likely to get worse, firms say.
"Everyone is afraid that we are going to get to a point where we were in 2006-7, where we had a shortage of skilled workers," explains Brian Turmail, spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of America. The trade group on Sept. 4 released the results of a survey it performed this summer on worker shortages. Seventy-four percent of the roughly 700 respondents reported a crunch in skilled trades, while 53% said they could not find enough construction professionals, such as supervisors, estimators and engineers.