Editor’s Note: ’Tis the season for hiring! Of those who answered this question, no one mentioned any major purchases, but two-thirds of respondents say they’ll be hiring next year. If you are among those looking to hire or looking for a job, feel free to use AWCI’s Facebook page to post your available jobs. Visit www.facebook.com/AWCIwall to see what’s out there.
I’m glad you asked.
There is a terrible dearth of qualified workers in the construction industry in this area. Signing the E-Verify agreement exacerbates the problem. There is a shortage of workers for both the field and the office. And it appears that this year will see lots of construction starting and ongoing.
We stopped taking and bidding work months ago (except what we cannot decline) because we have such a backlog. I could use 10 qualified EIFS/stucco/plaster mechanics right now. We finally hired two more project managers recently, after looking for most of a year.
—Robert A. Aird,
Robert A. Aird, Inc.,
Frederick, Maryland
No new hires due to Obamacare requirements!
—Walter Humphreys,
Finishes, Inc.,
Sykesville, Maryland
Framers, hangers, finishers. We cannot get enough manpower and are turning away work because of this problem. Immigration reform is needed ASAP.
—Anonymous
Hiring field tradesmen, plasterers, lathers, stucco and EIFS guys. Just looking for some persons not afraid to leave the ground that want to learn the trade that have a driver’s license.
—Anonymous
We saw an uptick last quarter and we should be steady through the first quarter of 2014, but currently we have no plans to hire. We are cautiously optimistic about 2014. We are seeing a lot of invitations to bid but that has not translated into executed contracts yet. When we get a sufficient backlog then we will consider new hires. We have not fully maxed out our overhead yet.
—Anonymous
Framers, boarders, tapers, supervisors—turning work down due to lack of manpower.
—Anonymous
We need more lasers, the newest and greatest help us attain the quickest error-free framing.
—Wayne Dickinson,
Dickinson Drywall,
West Bridgewater, Massachusetts
