The profession AI is hitting the hardest

Electricians top the hardest-to-hire list

Among all construction occupations, contractors find electricians hardest to hire, followed by HVAC technicians, pipefitters and welders, Wilkins said. Data center work concentrates that demand. “Those types of projects require such a high number of electricians and individuals that are more technically advanced,” she said, citing the wiring and systems integration the buildings require. Electrical apprenticeships take several years to complete, so contractors cannot train enough electricians within a single project schedule.

Forty-two percent of survey respondents said shortages of their own or subcontractors’ workers delayed projects, the most commonly cited cause of delay, AGC reported. That ties workforce planning directly to project revenue.

Immigration actions are thinning crews

Immigration enforcement is cutting into crews, contractors told AGC. Twenty-nine percent of respondents reported at least one direct or indirect impact in the six months before the survey, AGC said: 12% said workers left or failed to appear because of actual or rumored immigration actions, and 16% said subcontractors lost workers. Firms in the South reported impacts most often, at 42%.

Wilkins estimated that foreign-born workers hold about a third of construction trade jobs. The disruption, she said, ranges from site visits to what she called “a culture of fear or stop and start.”

Where the trained workers will come from

Wilkins urged contractors to recruit through outside staffing firms and build direct relationships with universities, high schools and career and technical education programs. She pointed to Paducah, Kentucky, where local companies, career and technical programs and high schools coordinate so students finish with a high school diploma or GED plus trade training. “Administrators would be excited to hear from a potential employer for their kids,” Wilkins said.