The ongoing construction labor shortage continues to impact business owners across the country. Many construction companies are struggling to fill roles and are at a loss for what to do. Does this sound familiar?
Labor shortages aren’t just impacting the construction industry; professionals are also struggling with how to find roofing employees and fill jobs in the fencing industry. While it’s intimidating to hire during a labor shortage, it is doable.
We’ve gathered up some resources and tools to help you successfully hire a construction worker during a labor shortage.
Understanding the Construction Labor Shortage
As you’re already aware, the labor shortage is a serious problem. In fact, if no action is taken to address the labor shortage in the industry, companies will be short about 100,000 workers by 2029.
Let’s take a look at what is causing the construction labor shortage:
- Current construction workers are retiring.
- There aren’t enough young workers entering the industry to replace retirees.
- Many of those laid off during the Great Recession were never replaced in the industry’s workforce.
Unfortunately, data indicates that this labor shortage won’t end anytime soon. Experts predict the construction labor shortage will get worse in the remainder of 2022.
With that in mind, it’s good to know what construction job seekers are looking for in an employer so you can stand out in the market.
How to Recruit Construction Workers
As an employer, it’s crucial to keep yourself informed on the hiring trends facing your industry. Here’s what construction workers are looking for in their next employer:
- Competitive pay
- More benefits
- Flexibility
- Work-life balance
When you offer high pay and good benefits to construction laborers, it helps you recruit and retain construction workers.
Seeking Out the Best Talent in Construction Laborers
Finding skilled workers is a difficult task, especially during the construction labor shortage. But don’t get discouraged. You can do several things to find skilled construction workers, even during a labor shortage.
The first step is to create a detailed job post that you can share on multiple sites and listings. Next, you should evaluate your construction company’s current recruiting methods. You can ask yourself the following questions to gauge where you’re at:
- Do you have a dedicated recruiter on your team?
- How do you spread the word about your new job posting?
- Do you use social media sites like LinkedIn to find potential candidates?
- Do you post hiring signs around town?
If you’re dedicating any resources to recruiting efforts, you’re already ahead of the curve. Expecting the perfect candidate to walk through the door and say, “Hey, I want a job!” isn’t realistic, but many business owners fall victim to this mentality.
Realize that recruiting efforts are something you can control. With the right recruiting methods, you’ll see results and hire construction workers.
Where to Post Construction Worker Jobs
Now that you know you need to post jobs, you might be asking yourself: Where do I post construction worker jobs?
Luckily for you, we’ve compiled a few construction-specific job sites that are perfect for showing off your job to great candidates. Keep in mind that each of these sites charges different prices for employers to list jobs but are free for job seekers.
SkilledTradeJobs.com
Skilled Trade Jobs is an online job board dedicated to skilled trade industries. Professional trades workers looking for a job use this website.
ConstructionJobs.com
Construction Jobs‘ mission is to create a database of construction labor jobs for those looking for employment. This site is a great place to hire construction laborers.
Indeed.com
While Indeed isn’t contracting-specific, it does have a section dedicated to construction job postings. Using Indeed will help you get your job posting in front of a lot of people. According to the website, it earns more than 250 million unique users each month.
Making Your Business More Efficient through Construction Software
In the wake of an ongoing labor shortage, it’s important to explore options beyond hiring. This can help ease your staff’s workload and replace the need for another team member.
That’s where construction software comes into play. Construction software allows you to manage jobs, track task statuses, and organize workflow. With construction software, you can offload many tasks from your staff and run your business with automation tools and more.
When you implement this type of software, you let the technology do the work for you. Construction software can be an extra person on your team.
With all these helpful hiring tools now in your hiring arsenal, you’re ready to get out there and find the best construction workers. To attract the best construction workers, use job boards, increase your recruiting efforts, and consider offering robust benefits.
Has the construction labor shortage impacted your construction business? How have you found more construction contractors for your business? Tell us more about your experience in the comments below.
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