The construction industry is coming to grips with a massive problem: finding, hiring and training the next generation of construction workers in the United States. Between the fallout from job loss due to the pandemic, the “Great Resignation” (where people increasingly and voluntarily quit their jobs) and an aging Baby Boomer workforce retiring in droves, the construction industry must immediately prioritize attracting a new workforce.

According to the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), construction faces a workforce shortage of over 650,000 workers in 2022 alone. They noted that since the end of the Great Recession, workers aged 25-54 had dropped 8%, while workers 55 and over have risen by 20%. With the average retirement age at 61 years old, a fifth of the industry could resign within the next six years.

Reprinted courtesy of James Barlow, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

The construction industry's lack of digitalization and new technologies mean that companies will struggle to fulfil projects as younger people choose to pursue a career in other industries, says GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that by adopting robotics technology at scale across the industry, companies can attract younger workers and maintain or increase their current productivity levels.

Two markets that can be lucrative for the construction industry are commercial drones and exoskeleton. According to GlobalData forecasts, the commercial drones segment was worth just $3.4 billion in 2020 but is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.6% to 2030 and will reach $57 billion. The exoskeleton market was worth $200 million in 2020, but it will be worth $10.9 billion in 2030, emerging as the fastest-growing robotics category with a CAGR of 49.0%.

In GlobalData's Construction Industry Sustainability Survey 2021 (159 respondents), 72% of respondents said the construction industry in their region was concerned or very concerned with the health and safety of construction workers. GlobalData's latest report, 'Robotics in Construction – Thematic Intelligence', identifies several other benefits that robots can bring to the industry such as construction robots, which can address these concerns by greatly increasing the safety of workers.

Natural gas power plant developer NET Power LLC, with partners Baker Hughes, Occidental Petroleum and Constellation Energy, will narrow selection of an EPC contractor by year end to build a $750-million utility scale power plant that it claims will be the world's first to burn natural gas with oxygen to generate power and produce pure carbon dioxide as a sellable byproduct with no harmful air emissions.

The thing about working for an elevator company that’s been hired to modernize the elevator in the Washington Monument is that, due to the very nature of the project, the only way to get to the machine room at the top is to walk. That’s up 897 cold iron steps, in a narrow, windowless staircase that spirals within the 555-foot-high structure.

Jose Carrasco thought it was great. The stairs have been closed to the public since the 1970s, but when Delaware Elevator Inc. (DEI) got the job to lift the monument’s elevator into the 21st century, Carrasco—the company’s vice president of construction modernization—relished “the opportunity that not many people have to walk the steps.”

Reprinted courtesy of Christopher Durso, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

Nonfatal workplace injuries resulting from falls continue to occur at a higher rate in the construction industry compared to the private industry at large. To heighten awareness and reinforce construction worksite safety measures around this ongoing problem, OSHA developed the National Safety Stand-Down campaign, which encourages contractors to emphasize the importance of fall prevention by training employees on the worksite hazards that lead to falls.

After an employee suffers a fall or direct blow to the head, healing from injuries incurred is of paramount importance. But depending on the type of injury, there could be underlying neurological impairments even after the musculoskeletal injuries have healed. These impairments can include dizziness or a persistent imbalance that occurs while walking, bending or performing other normal physical activities. These sudden, recurring bouts of unsteadiness can place a construction employee at higher risk of falling again on the job.

Reprinted courtesy of Michael Morgan, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

According to the Home Builders Institute, the construction industry needs an additional 2.2 million workers between now and 2024 to keep up with construction expansion and worker replacement. News outlets have called the situation “staggering” and “desperate.” But nobody should be saying it’s a surprise—or temporary. In Wipfli’s 2021 construction transition planning report, nearly 90% of construction leaders said they plan to start transitioning out of their companies in the next decade. Owners have been retiring and exiting the business in waves, taking a wealth of knowledge and skills with them.

Retirement is just one reason construction workers are walking away. Construction is tough, physical work. Sometimes, even dangerous. Companies have struggled to find workers who enjoy and thrive in the environment. It’s also hard to retain workers when wages and opportunities are plentiful outside the sector. The labor shortage is a ubiquitous problem, so construction firms are competing against “cushier” and “easier” career offers.

Reprinted courtesy of Tina Nazier, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

RESTON, Va. – Civil engineering salaries continue to trend up according to the 2022 ASCE Civil Engineering Salary Report today released by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), with an average annual salary of nearly $125,000. The median pre-tax annual salary in 2021 among survey respondents was $124,296. Base salaries rose by about 6% from 2020 to 2021. The median primary income for those civil engineers with a Professional Engineers license was $130,000, nearly $23,000 more than those with no licenses or certifications.

The report also shows high job satisfaction and opportunities for career growth in 2022.Of the salary survey respondents, 63.3% reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their financial compensation. That number was even higher, though, when asked about overall job satisfaction: 85.2% said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their civil engineering jobs. More than nine in 10 respondents receive health and insurance benefits through their employer and nearly 79% are offered telework options – an increasingly important and desired employee benefit since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 150,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.

As far as taller timber structures go, Chicago has been slow to follow the lead of other cities, such as Minneapolis, Atlanta and Milwaukee.
But that may be changing.

In early April, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its much anticipated Sixth Assessment report. It paints a dire picture for the future of the world. There are enormous implications for every nation—and every industry. As politicians haggle over what can and should be done, it is clear a shift toward sustainability is desperately needed, whether it is legislated or not.

What does sustainability actually mean?
Sustainability is a societal goal with three dimensions: environmental, economic and social. All three are important, but the main goal of environmental sustainability is to avoid depletion to preserve resources. This becomes increasingly important as humans push ecosystems past their tipping point, which can trigger catastrophic consequences (or so it is feared).

Reprinted courtesy of Philip Lorenzo & Gayatri Shahane, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

TestFit Inc., the maker of an interactive AI-powered real estate feasibility software, has announced $20 million in Series A financing led by Parkway Venture Capital, bringing the total company financing to $22 million.

TestFit’s building configurator helps real estate developers, architects, urban planners, and more to solve site plans in seconds. Development deals for multifamily, commercial, and industrial building types can be rapidly evaluated with TestFit.

It’s not often easy to be first. But that hasn’t stopped an intrepid adventurer from going against the prevailing winds of structural practice to debut a dynamic shift in skyscraper engineering that at minimum promises improved tall-building resilience and sustainability—at a reduced cost. The first proof-of-concept for the radical technique, called performance-based wind design, is stirring up a storm of optimism for tall-building enthusiasts committed to advancing “real” not “cookbook” engineering. And they predict that in 10 or 15 years, high-rise PBWD will be the norm the world over.