Tag: workforce: Page 28

Workforce

Energy boom contributes to Houston’s shortage of skilled construction workers

Like just about every other metro area of the country, the Houston-area construction industry is feeling the negative effects of strong demand with the inability to find enough skilled workers to meet it. Unique to Houston’s shortage however is the contribution, or complication, the energy boom in Texas has made, according to Houston’s ABC affiliate […]

May 20, 2013

Workforce

Skilled construction worker shortage already stifling economic recovery

It looks like Executive Editor Tom Jackson’s fear of construction’s current labor shortage stifling the economic recovery is already coming true. According to a recent report from the Associated Press, construction companies across the country say they feel the economy could be doing even better if they could find enough workers. They say they have […]

May 17, 2013

Workforce

Lower pay, higher costs, immigration enforcement involved in California construction companies’ struggle to find workers

Same story, different place. Just like their counterparts in Minnesota and other metro areas across the country, construction companies in California, particularly home builders, can’t seem to find enough workers to fill growing demand for work, reports the Los Angeles Times. The main reason for the struggle is the same too. In the wake of […]

May 9, 2013

Workforce

Lack of skilled construction workers and technicians could choke off economic recovery

Goldman Sachs today released a report naming the 40 stocks it thinks will boom in the coming months. Not surprising, the list was dominated by gas, oil and energy companies: 18 out of the 40 to be exact. Two mining companies were in the mix as well, as were Cummins and Goodyear. The technical advancements […]

May 7, 2013

Business

Construction unemployment rate drops despite losing 6k jobs in April

After riding a four-month streak of employment gains to the highest total employment the industry had seen in nearly four years, the construction industry lost 6,000 jobs in April, according to new data from the U.S. Labor Department. Despite the loss of jobs, the industry’s unemployment rate continued to fall, dipping to 13.2 percent. The […]

May 3, 2013

Business

U.S. needs to “Think Big” like Germany if it wants to escape construction, technician labor shortage

Contractors and equipment dealers struggling to find a solution to the shortage of trained technicians in the United States, need look no further than Germany for an example of how to do it right. The German Engineering Federation, VDMA, last month bussed in more than 10,000 teens to participate in Bauma 2013 and a program […]

May 3, 2013

Workforce

Construction adds 18k to workforce amid weak jobs report

Though industry growth slowed considerably month-to-month, by adding 18,000 jobs in March, construction continued its streak of job growth, according to preliminary figures from the U.S. Labor Department. Construction’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest rate since 2008 to 14.7 percent. In January, the unemployment was at 15.1 percent. March’s tally is just under one-fourth […]

April 5, 2013

Business

Caterpillar CEO calls for more visas for foreign engineers, path to legal status for undocumented immigrants

During a speech at the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition in Chicago, Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman said his company has a hard time retaining talent and filling lower-skilled positions due to the hard time its foreign workers have in obtaining a visa to stay in the U.S. “Today, we (employers) have gaps in our workforce. We have […]

April 5, 2013

Business

Construction jobs limited to 15k visas per year under new guest worker agreement

The path toward a final deal on immigration reform has likely been cleared now that the country’s business and labor unions have reached an agreement on a guest worker program for immigrants. The New York Times reports that on Friday Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, held a conference call with U.S. Chamber of Commerce President […]

April 1, 2013

Business

Letterman’s Top Ten features “Construction Worker Pet Peeves”

We won’t waste much of your time explaining this one so you can get right to the video. On “The Late Show with David Letterman”, 10 New York City construction workers got the chance to deliver the show’s nightly “Top Ten.” It was a strong list of jokes and we think these ladies and gentlemen […]

March 27, 2013

Business

Smart, skilled class of contractors necessary to navigate worst recovery in modern history

In this era of partisan news both sides will spin any facts any way to make their side look better. So getting any kind of macro-level read on the real state of the economy is difficult if not impossible. But from what I’ve seen with my own two eyes and heard with my own two […]

March 26, 2013

Workforce

Why construction unions are wrong in fighting immigration reform

Ah politics! Strange bedfellows. Even stranger enemies. One would think the universal brotherhood of union workers would welcome with solidarity the teeming masses from south of the border. But that is certainly not the case if those Hispanic workers have construction skills. Buzzfeed Politics is reporting that the AFL-CIO in the pending immigration bill is […]

March 26, 2013