The largest expansion in the industrial construction market in decades recently prompted the union construction industry to conduct a study to determine the impact of increased job demand and costs related to forecasted labor shortages.
The 2008 Construction Industry Conditions Survey, sponsored by The Association of Union Constructors (TAUC) and the North American Contractors Association (NACA), gathered information from more than 200 industrial contractors regarding the escalating workload and its financial impact.
The most notable finding from the survey was that two-thirds of crafts have experienced some form of labor shortage.
According to the survey:
- Almost two-thirds of contractors have experienced labor shortages with one or more crafts
- The crafts most likely to experience shortages are boilermakers, pipefitters and ironworkers
- Nearly half of the contractors use an extended work schedule
- Almost half of the contractors have worked more than 40 hours per week
- Two-thirds reported working their crews five days a week
- A variety of supplemental payments are being made
- One-third of workers are being given travel payments
"This survey was conducted in large part to determine the specifics of the labor shortages — not whether or not they were occurring — especially which crafts are being affected in which parts of the country," said TAUC CEO Steve Lindauer.
TAUC is an association of 2,500 union contractors from across the United States primarily engaged in steel erection, industrial maintenance and construction.
