Ninety percent of contractors are facing labor challenges for the fourth straight quarter, according to www.constructiondive.com.
The 2018 second quarter USG + U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index shows concern over labor shortages has increased quarter-over-quarter, with 47 percent of respondents expecting problems finding skilled workers to worsen during the next six months. The current contractor backlog is about nine months.
Despite the labor challenges, contractors have confidence that the next 12 months will bring a high demand for commercial construction, with 52 percent of contractors expecting to see revenue gains, an increase of 12 percent year-over-year.
Contractors continue to maintain a strong outlook in new business and revenue expectations.
"Contractors' pipelines for new business are consistently healthy, however, that optimism is challenged by a growing shortage of workers—a trend that's persisted for more than a year," said Jennifer Scanlon, president and chief executive officer of USG. "In order to sustain the strong pipeline of work, it's important that industry leaders think about process and product innovations that can help complete projects on-time and advance the industry."
