The ongoing labor shortage in the offsite construction industry is a problem that’s not going away anytime soon, and the consequences that will come about due to that shortage are going to be felt for a very, very long time.
According to Deloitte Insights, manufacturers are finding it 36% more difficult to find talent today than in 2018, even though the unemployment rate is much higher than in the recent past.
Not Enough People Available to Fill All the Open Positions
The main drivers of the labor shortage problem in offsite construction manufacturing is the competition between companies for qualified workers, and the fact there are simply aren’t enough right now.
Positions such as assemblers, production work helpers and hand-held tool cutters are great entry points for employees to gain a foothold in the industry.
Competing with Other Factories and Distribution Centers
However, they are also being targeted by other organizations in other industries.
For example, one of my area’s largest employers Amazon continues to build more distribution centers within 20 miles of my town. Each center can employ up to 800 people, mostly young people not wanting to go to college or join the service. Conversely, despite the manufacturing industry often being unfairly labeled as a stationary, low-progression and low-knowledge industry, many opportunities for career growth and skills development exist.
Lack of Training in the Offsite Construction Industry
Manufacturers are increasingly struggling to fill middle-skill jobs as well, as they often require a hands-on, applied training program that can take between several months to more than a year. As a result, finding new and effective ways to train the workforce of tomorrow will play a critical role in combatting manufacturing’s labor shortage problem.
As the digital transformation in offsite construction continues to rapidly grow, new skills will be needed to be developed, refined and honed for jobs that many factories currently haven’t invested in yet. BIM is just one of those new skills.
Without training there will be a void in the skills composition of the workforce According to several offsite construction experts, factories could see up to 2.1 million jobs unfilled between 2020 and 2030.
In order to avoid further widening the skills gap over the course of the next decade, those within the industry need to not only broaden their understanding of the digital transformation and its potential impacts but also prepare employees to thrive in what will be an increasingly technology-centric environment.
A fair amount of people fear that robots will eventually take their job. While it is true that robots can be helpful, and that there has been an influx of 2.7 million robots in industrial use worldwide, humans are still needed to produce the vast majority of goods. Robots may be able to pack and lift boxes, but humans possess the critical thinking and creativity that is needed to solve problems.
Another key challenge is the lack of work-life balance and flexible work arrangements. Between Gen X (Millennials) and Gen Z workers, they comprise 140,000,000 people. Almost 50% of them there is a shortage of work-life balance in their field. Launching recruitment efforts at high schools, considering flexible schedules to help work/life balance, linking leadership performance to diversity, and equity and inclusion metrics can all help to attract a diverse range of talent.
But without proper training and really helping them believe the offsite industry is the place to work, we will continue our quest for fill positions.
The challenges we are facing today are likely to persist without a concentrated offsite industry-wide effort. Creating the next generation of manufacturing workers is imperative. Several groups within the offsite construction industry are talking about starting training for new hires but that won’t be very effective if the factory owners and upper management don’t buy into it.
Every offsite manufacturer has to begin taking steps now in training, inclusion and recruiting to build a better workforce for future generations.
Related Articles:
- 7 Reasons Offsite Construction Can’t Make A Dent In Our Labor Shortage
- North Carolina School Begins Training Students For The Modular Housing Industry
- Oh, Brother! Where Art Thou Construction Training?
Gary Fleisher is the Editor in Chief of Modular Home Source and Offsite Builder. Email at [email protected]
To learn more about the Offsite Construction Industry, visit:
Offsite Builder, the Construction Magazine for Builders and Developers
