Technical Personnel Shortages in Construction Industry

Abstract

The construction industry faces a major shortfall in needed technical manpower over the upcoming decades due to demographic trends. There will be fewer college‐age students in the educational pipeline, and a higher percentage of those who are available for technical educations will be from groups who are not attracted to them—minorities and women. In addition, students currently attracted to technical fields are less likely to choose an emphasis in civil engineering or construction than in competitive areas. The cumulative impact of new placements needed and growth of the construction field is projected to lead to a shortfall of several hundreds of thousands of technical people in the construction industry by the early part of the 21st century. Such projections can be impacted by actions taken over the next few years. Leaders in the construction industry are encouraged to pursue a more aggressive path for recruitment and retention in their industry, including specific programs aimed at attracting minorities and women, co‐op programs and summer jobs for technical students, support for programs in the civil engineering and construction fields at universities, and public education through the media.