The need for workers in a variety of fields continues to expand, according to a new survey, indicating that shortages are challenging any number of industries.
The just-completed 2022 Associated General Contractors of America-Autodesk Workforce Survey reveals that 93% out of a total response of 1,266 companies said they currently had open positions for hourly craft workers.
That figure is up from the 90% who similarly responded a year ago. Meanwhile, 70% of respondents today said they had openings for salaried workers, up from 62% in the late summer of 2021.
These figures are rolled out at the same time that 86% of respondents to the survey said they had raised base pay rates, a significant increase over the 73% recorded last year.
The most common reason for the worker openings was due to applicants not being qualified, a problem cited by 77% of the survey’s respondents, up from 72% a year ago.
The survey also indicated that 82% of firms said they were currently experiencing delays in competing projects due to a shortage of construction materials, over the 75% who said the same in 2021.
While 58% of respondents also said they were challenged by projects that have been either cancelled, postponed, or scaled back, a promising 28% said that they are seeing more projects to bid on or projects that have been expanded from their original scope.
Regionally, the survey showed that 32% of companies in the Northeast had increased their payrolls in the last year, compared to 46% in the Midwest, 35% in the South, and a healthy 50% in the West.
By Garry Boulard
