Contractors Finding It Difficult To Hire Skilled Workers, Survey Says

A new national survey shows 70 percent of contractors are finding it difficult to hire skilled workers, and Wisconsin is on par with the rest of the nation.

The majority of 1,608 contractors surveyed nationwide say it’s hard to find skilled hourly craft workers, according to the survey from the Associated General Contractors of America. In Wisconsin, 73 percent of 22 contractors surveyed are experiencing the same problem.

Wisconsin Home Builders Association President David Belman said the lack of trained craftsmen is their No. 1 concern right now.

“Part of that is just due to going through the Great Recession. We lost half our skilled trades workforce during that time period,” he said. “Most of them got day jobs that left, and they haven’t come back into the industry.”

National labor statistics show the number of construction workers in Wisconsin bottomed out at 92,400 workers after the housing bubble burst. Since then, the industry has seen those numbers grow by more than 25 percent.

Even so, Belman said builders can’t keep up with demand as new housing construction has grown.

Scott Sorenson, president of Anchor Building Corporation in Superior, said a lot of contractors are turning down jobs because they don’t have enough workers to keep up with demand.

“There’s a bunch of good contractors around here that really follow all the codes and are really high quality in what they do. These guys — we’re all just booked solid,” he said. “Some of us are booked ‘til next year because we get to pick and choose our spots.”

Sorenson has a crew of six full-time workers and two part-time employees. He said they typically can build four homes each year and about a dozen garages.

“Now, if I had three more high-quality guys, we could triple our production,” he said.

Sorenson said he’s working with Superior High School to attract any teens who may be interested in the trades. Meanwhile, Belman said they’d like the state to support funding for a Home Builder’s Institute, which is the educational arm of the National Association of Home Builders. The institute provides training programs to help certify students for construction work

Wisconsin had about 112,200 construction workers as of June this year, according to national labor figures, which is about 14,000 to 15,000 fewer workers than before the recession.