There is doubt that we live in a crazy time right now, and we all know that the past few months have been pretty rough. Specifically in April, Construction employment declined by 975,000 jobs alone.
However in a new survey from the Associated General Contractors of America, there is some interesting findings that show some positive news specifically in our industry.
What the LABER team found interesting about the report was the percentage of jobs actually paused due to COVID-19. Based on the news, we have been under the impression that up to 90% of construction has been paused or cancelled, however in actuality, the pause has ONLY affected around 6 out of 10 jobs.
Not only that, but around 1 in 5 employers actually need to ADD employees in the next 4 weeks. This is helpful news that shows there is hope for qualified workers out there to find employment. Certainly more promising for the construction industry than we had hoped!
As May rolls along into June, we are hearing more and more from our contractor employers that they will need to staff back up quickly to be able to resume on-time project schedules.
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Heres some of the key findings in the recent AGC report:
General Stats about Projects
63% of projects specifically within April and May were noted to be halted by the owner
32% reports the projects were not halted or canceled by an owner
Stats around reasons why the projects were halted:
30% - To comply with state/local order to halt "non-essential" activity
37% - Owners' concern about COVID-19 danger surrounding the project
31% - of Owner's expectation of reduced demand for the project
...However only 21% noted the loss of private funding
Some positive stats relating to employment and headcount:
Only 8% of respondents noted project delays or disruptions due to securing financing or covering cash flow needs
46% of construction firms has no change in headcount
18% anticipate needing to add employees in the next 4 weeks