LABOR
LABOR PAINS
As the skilled trade workforce continues to dwindle, how can Arizona keep up with increased construction demands? By KYLE BACKER
T
he five C’s of Arizona — copper, cattle, climate, cotton and citrus — have a long history of being the pillars that held up the state’s economy. Today, there is a new C that is driving the state’s growth: construction. After an initial dip in business during the first wave of closures in March 2020, the construction market gained steam after Arizona Governor Doug Ducey classified the industry as essential. “We didn’t know if everything was going to grind to a halt,” says Steve Whitworth, president of Kitchell Contractors. “When construction was deemed an essential business, things kept going. Our volume was a tick down from what we forecast for the year, but it was right there on par for
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where we were in 2019, so it didn’t set us backwards like we thought it could at the beginning of the pandemic.” The growing need for new projects and tenant improvements is strong, with no signs of slowing. But can the construction industry keep pace with demand?
GREAT RECESSION HANGOVER The No. 1 issue facing the construction industry is the lack of skilled labor, but this isn’t a new phenomenon. Since the Great Recession in the late 2000s, companies have struggled to recruit and retain workers. “In 2008, when the economy took a big turn and the bubble popped, Arizona lost about 40,000
DEVELOPING TALENT: Internship programs offer a great way for companies to attract future employees. Here, interns from Kitchell's Hardison/Downey Construction division walk a job site.
construction and skilled laborers who never came back. Our industry fought that for the last 12 years, and we’ve never made it back to the levels we had pre-2008,” notes Dave Tilson, vice president of business development at Renaissance Companies. Many construction workers who found themselves unemployed took jobs elsewhere or left the industry altogether. Compounding the problem is the fact that Arizona was particularly hard hit by the recession,
