The United States needs housing. But first, it needs the workers to build it.

The United States needs an estimated 7 million additional homes to accommodate all the people who need housing. But to build all of that housing, experts say, America would need many more construction workers.

“The biggest challenge facing the construction industry, tongue in cheek, is that people don’t want their kids to be construction workers,” says Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives at Associated General Contractors of America, an industry group that calls for greater workforce development.

For decades, Turmail said, many educators and politicians have encouraged their students to attend four-year college, leading to a shortage of skilled tradespeople such as electricians and plumbers. Most of the tradespeople he knows got into the business through a personal contact, Turmail added.

And now, after the Great Recession of 2008 and the construction cuts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, more workers Leave the industry than entering it, according to the National Center for Construction Education and Research.

“When there are fewer workers available, construction takes longer,” said Lily Roberts, executive director of inclusive growth at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington, DC.

The construction industry says it has been suffering from a labor shortage since long before the pandemic. Employment is not growing quick enough, said Erika Walter, director of media relations at Associated Builders and Contractors, a national Industrial Group.

An analysis released earlier this month by the Associated Builders and Contractors union found that there were around 459,000 job vacancies in the industry at the end of November. The rate of 5.4% was the highest since 2000.

Several states have taken steps in recent years to strengthen their construction workforces. They are funding apprenticeships, investing in community college programs and offering grants to specific industries, all in the hope of building a domestic influx of skilled construction workers. In Montana, nearly 3,000 apprentices are currently working through a state-run program that connects students with industry sponsors.

“The big surprise to me in 2023 was that these governors suddenly did more than just pump money into the labor shortage problem,” said Karl Eckhart, vice president of intergovernmental affairs for the National Association of Home Builders. “We need to speed up this process so we can at least start breaking ground.”

The problem

The U.S. construction industry lost nearly 30% of its workforce during the Great Recession of 2008 and had barely recovered when the COVID-19 pandemic hit it again, according to a study shared last spring by economists at the University of Utah and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

However, the authors attributed the shortage largely to the Obama administration’s tough stance against immigration under the federal Secure Communities program.

“If a shortage of low-skilled workers makes it more difficult to find workers to complete the shell of a home, it will also reduce the demand for electricians and plumbers needed in the next phase of construction,” the authors write.

Another problem, however, is that the industry’s workforce is close to retirement. More than one in five construction workers are 55 years and olderand a enormous portion of workers will retire in the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, currently around 68% of construction companies say their applicants lack the required skills, according to a study by the Associated General Contractors. Opinion poll last year.

“We have invested hundreds of millions in job training because not only do we need housing, but the average age of an electrician in America is about 50,” said Eckhart of the National Association of Home Builders.

“If you’re Generation X or younger, your career counselor never said, ‘Hey, you should be an electrician.’ Now the industry has lost that potential talent pool.”

Building a workforce

According to experts and studies, one of the challenges is that the construction industry is not doing enough to recruit different professional groups.

According to a 2022 report by the U.S. Department of Labor reportMany construction and trade skills training programs are often sponsored by sponsors who do not recruit or hire people from underrepresented groups—and may not even know how to recruit members of those groups.

“In the construction industry, women, including women of color, are a generally untapped group of potential employees,” said Roberts of the Center for American Progress.

Women and people with dim skin are underrepresented in the construction industry, especially in higher-paying, higher-skilled occupations, according to the federal government. Commission for Equal Opportunities in the Workplace.

Rose Khattar, director of economic analysis for inclusive business at the Center for American Progress, said some jurisdictions have taken steps to boost the diversity of their workforce through training.

And in recent months, several states have touted up-to-date investments in skilled trades training.

In November alone, for example, the Democratic governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, said announced that more than $12 million in funding would be invested in training about 2,000 workers in a variety of areas, including welding, machine maintenance and construction programs.

Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine announced that 35 high school programs in Ohio would receive nearly $200 million subsidy to expand training opportunities in the areas of electrical engineering, welding and carpentry, among others.

And Maryland’s Democratic governor, Wes Moore, signed a supreme command to require officials overseeing government construction projects valued at more than $5 million to consider hiring contractors who participate in registered training programs.

“I think the stigma of the construction industry is that you go into construction because you can’t do anything else,” says Shelly Bell, vice president of workforce development at Tallahassee Community College in Florida, which offers a skilled trades curriculum tied to a larger, state-sponsored program.

There is a great need, she stressed, and given the country’s housing shortage, there is long-term job security. “We want to offer our students a career in construction that offers opportunities for advancement and professional fulfillment,” she said.

There is another reason why policymakers should keep an eye on the ongoing need for workers, Eckhart said.

“If you don’t invest in training skilled workers, it only hurts the consumer,” he said. “Less skilled workers mean homes that are not stable and functional, and you can’t afford to take shortcuts in home building.”