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Survey: California Contractors Expect to Expand Workforce

A survey released Wednesday showed that 74 percent of California contractors expect to increase their headcount, but continue to have a hard time finding qualified workers.

These results were collected by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America and Sage Construction and Real Estate from 1580 respondents, 161 of which listed California as the state where their firm performs the largest amount of its work.

The information was collected as part of “The Challenges Facing a Growing Industry: The 2016 Construction Industry Hiring and Business Outlook,” which nationwide had contractors expecting a positive year even with tight labor conditions, regulations and IT security challenges.

“The construction industry will continue to recover in 2016 as many firms add to their headcount amid growing demand in a range of private and public sector markets,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer in the company’s release. “The industry also faces a number of challenges that have the potential to dampen, and possibly even undermine, the sector’s recovery.”

In California, 59 percent of firms expect an increase in their workforce of 1 percent to 25 percent. Of the firms surveyed, 44 percent are having a hard time filling salaried and craft worker positions. Seventy-two percent of firms expect that it will continue to be hard or become more difficult to find qualified construction professionals in the next 12 months.

“What is particularly striking about the findings on worker shortages is that they are consistent with the responses from last year’s Outlook,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, in the company’s release. “In other words, after a year of raising pay and increasing benefits, contractors remain as worried about the lack of qualified workers as they were at the beginning of 2015.”

The total estimated work for contracting firms in California had 33 percent of contractors at $10 million or less, with 23 percent in the $10.1 million to $30 million range.

Contractors were optimistic about the expansion of private office, public building, hospital and manufacturing markets. Comparatively, respondents were less optimistic about highway, power, K-12 school, and water/sewer markets. Nationally, respondents were most optimistic about retail, warehouse and lodging.

The biggest concerns for contractors and their businesses are worker shortages, increased state and local regulations and increased competition for projects.

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