The Construction Labor Gap

Contractors regularly report difficulty finding skilled workers. This panel puts numbers on that complaint and links it to the museum's central question.

Measuring the gap

BLS publishes the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which counts job openings, hires and separations by industry. In construction, openings have often been high relative to hires in recent years, a sign of unfilled demand. Industry groups produce their own estimates: the Associated Builders and Contractors, using BLS data, estimated in early 2025 that the industry needed to attract roughly 439,000 net new workers that year to meet demand. Estimates differ by method; the museum shows its sources.

Causes

• Retirements of experienced workers (see The Aging Workforce).
• The 2008–2011 construction collapse, when many workers left permanently.
• Strong demand from housing, manufacturing plants, data centers, energy and infrastructure spending.
• Fewer young people entering trades training for several decades.

Consequences

Longer project schedules, higher labour costs and bids, and more reliance on prefabrication, modular construction and automation.

The vertical push

Why Cities Go Up names five conditions of height: land, access, technology, rules and money. This panel adds a sixth that researchers sometimes forget: labour capacity. A city with high land prices, cheap credit and permissive zoning still cannot build towers without crane operators, ironworkers, form carpenters, electricians and elevator mechanics.

Sources

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, JOLTS; Associated Builders and Contractors workforce shortage estimates; Associated General Contractors workforce surveys.