According to the latest panel held by the Associated General Contractors of America, construction work is resuming in the majority of cities and states in the US. As construction companies are slowly resuming operations and construction sites are reopening, contractors are faced with tension and delays in completing projects. One of the main challenges, in this case, is the lack of professional and trained labor as well as the level of unemployment that emerged in April.
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The Level of Unemployment Against the Construction Demand
Nearly a million construction workers lost their jobs in April as construction sites were closing as non-essential due to the COVID-19 or due to the lack of financial stability in times of uncertainty. The level of unemployment in the industry reached the highest level since the Great Recession. Bob Majerus, one of the panelists at the event held by the Associated General Contractors of America claims that numerous different factors are affecting the current lack of labor in construction. One of these factors would be increased unemployment benefits provided by the program CARES.
Construction Workers Kept on the Sidelines
The federal act called CARES provided enhanced benefits for unemployment, which might be one of the main reasons why construction workers are kept on the sidelines. While the lack of professional and trained labor is affecting project completion with more delays, the benefits provided by the state are considered to keep workers disincentivized from coming back to work.
The Many Challenges for Construction
Another one of many challenges’ construction is faced with amidst the second phase of the outbreak, is the fear of workers to get back to sites and expose themselves to potential virus transmissions. The benefits provided by the government is securing the workers with doubled weekly payments, which is how the majority of construction projects is set to further delays.
