The construction industry’s workforce is creeping up from pandemic lows but still hasn’t recovered from its significant drop during the Great Recession.
A report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies attributes the shortage of skilled labor to the industry’s struggle to attract and retain people of color, women and young people, as well as a decline in immigrant workers who have traditionally filled these construction roles.
In 2007, there were roughly 6.9 million people working in construction across the nation. After the housing crash, the industry lost nearly one million workers, leading to a rise in construction cost and project delays, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The construction industry hit another low of 5.8 million workers during the pandemic. Two years later, the number of workers in the industry sits around 6.2 million.
