Majority of Construction Firms Plan to Add Workers in 2019

Arlington, VA, January 3, 2019--Seventy-nine percent of construction firms plan to expand their payrolls in 2019 but an almost equal percentage are worried about their ability to locate and hire qualified workers, according to survey results released by the Associated General Contractors of America and Sage Construction and Real Estate.

The percentage of respondents who expect a market segment to expand exceeds the percentage who expect it to contract for all 13 categories of projects included in the survey. For every segment, between 23% and 32% of respondents expect the dollar volume of projects they compete for to increase. Meanwhile, for all but one segment, between 11% and 16% of respondents foresee less work available in 2019. The difference between the positive and negative responses-the net reading-was between 10% and 17% for every category except multifamily.

Public building construction scored the highest net positive reading of 17%. Three other segments had a 16% net positive: highway, K-12 school, and hospital construction. Projects for federal government agencies and retail/warehouse/lodging both had a net positive reading of 15%. Water & sewer and transportation facility construction had a net positive reading of 14%.

Four categories had a slightly less-positive net reading: private office construction (13%); manufacturing construction (12%); higher education construction (11%) and power construction (10%). The lowest net positive reading was for multifamily residential construction, at 5%. Association officials said this may indicate that multifamily construction has outpaced demand for now in some locations.

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