U.S. employers will soon face “the largest labor shortage the country has ever seen,” according to a report from Lightcast, a labor market data and analysis firm.
The problem will be especially acute in fields like plumbing, HVAC, and auto maintenance. The labor force as a whole is being challenged by Baby Boomers retiring, falling childbirth rates, and a shrinking cohort of working age adults participating in the labor force.
For construction and trades, the problem is worsened by younger generations seeking office-based jobs requiring a college degree, prime working-age men exiting the labor force due to increased substance abuse and incarceration, and women filling less than 2% of jobs in traditionally male-dominated fields.
The only growth in the U.S. labor force since 2019 is due to immigration and foreign-born workers, the report says.
Related Stories
Airports | Aug 31, 2015
Airports expand rental car facilities to ease vehicular traffic at their terminals
AEC teams have found fertile ground in building or expanding consolidated rental car facilities, which are the No. 1 profit centers for most airports.
Airports | Aug 31, 2015
Experts discuss how airports can manage growth
In February 2015, engineering giant Arup conducted a “salon” in San Francisco on the future of aviation. This report provides an insight into their key findings.
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 28, 2015
Hospital construction/renovation guidelines promote sound control
The newly revised guidelines from the Facilities Guidelines Institute touch on six factors that affect a hospital’s soundscape.
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 28, 2015
7 (more) steps toward a quieter hospital
Every hospital has its own “culture” of loudness and quiet. Jacobs’ Chris Kay offers steps to a therapeutic auditory environment.
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 28, 2015
Shhh!!! 6 ways to keep the noise down in new and existing hospitals
There’s a ‘decibel war’ going on in the nation’s hospitals. Progressive Building Teams are leading the charge to give patients quieter healing environments.
Mixed-Use | Aug 26, 2015
Innovation districts + tech clusters: How the ‘open innovation’ era is revitalizing urban cores
In the race for highly coveted tech companies and startups, cities, institutions, and developers are teaming to form innovation hot pockets.
Contractors | Aug 19, 2015
FMI's Nonresidential Construction Index Report: Recovery continues despite slow down
The Q3 NRCI dropped to 63.6 from the previous reading of 64.9 in Q2, painting a mixed picture of the state of the nonresidential construction sector.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
GOVERNMENT SECTOR GIANTS: Public sector spending even more cautiously on buildings
AEC firms that do government work say their public-sector clients have been going smaller to save money on construction projects, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
K-12 SCHOOL SECTOR GIANTS: To succeed, school design must replicate real-world environments
Whether new or reconstructed, schools must meet new demands that emanate from the real world and rapidly adapt to different instructional and learning modes, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
MULTIFAMILY AEC GIANTS: Slowdown prompts developers to ask: Will the luxury rentals boom hold?
For the last three years, rental apartments have occupied the hot corner in residential construction, as younger people gravitated toward renting to be closer to urban centers and jobs. But at around 360,000 annual starts, multifamily might be peaking, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.