Page 45 - BusinessWest September 15, 2021

Construction
Building a Workforce
For Contractors, Attracting and Retaining Talent Is Job One
Contractors and tradespeople encountered two surprises last year — one was COVID-19, which ground much of the economy
to a halt. The other was a quick return to construction activity
— in many cases, plenty of it.
But amid the early uncertainty, some workers didn’t return.
That’s not good news
for an industry already
grappling with an
aging workforce and
a depletion of young
talent coming in.
Reversing those trends
will take aggressive
outreach — but also
a strong focus on retention.
In short, employers can’t take anything, or anyone, for granted.
IBy Joseph Bednar
t was gratifying, David Fontaine Jr. said, to see six of his construction company’s school proj- ects open their doors to students this month, all on time and under budget.
“They all got over the finish line successfully, so we’re proud of that,” he said — especially consider- ing the challenges of the past 18 months. High on that list is a persistent problem that has been growing
in construction for some time: maintaining
a sufficient workforce.
“Even before COVID, the workforce coming into
the industry has
CONSTRUCTION
SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 45
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