It’s common knowledge that the construction industry has a staffing shortage. The news at night reports that there are too many electricians, carpenters are fighting for jobs, and plumbers are always in demand. But what’s even harder to fill is sometimes not even the trades but those positions beyond the hammer and equipment operator; the roles that without someone in the seat can halt a project as quickly as they help it.
These positions are harder to fill than some other trades. A company might find a stellar welder, heavy equipment operator who is ready to join the team; good luck finding a safety coordinator who knows OSHA regulations inside out and can start next week. A project administrator who knows Procore or other construction scheduling software and how to efficiently manage documentation across multiple sites. Good luck.
No One Thinks About Them Until They’re Vacant
When you walk on to a large construction site, you can see all the trades doing physical work. But you might not recognize the people who make sure things happen in succession or on time, when scheduled; inspections take place when appropriate, and at least someone is making sure people go home safely.
Project coordinators keep the schedule moving and prevent everyone from tripping over one another’s work. A safety manager does an attendance meeting and tool inventory for the day and does incident reconciliations. Quality control staff ensure specs are reviewed before one project overlaps another. Administrative support approves timesheets, tracks materials and labor costs, and inevitably provides paperwork for each project.
When these roles go unfilled, every component of the operation feels it. Jobs are delayed because no one is tracking the schedule. Safety incidents increase due to lack of dedicated oversight. Documentation is backlogged and creates problems in inspections. The trades and their colleagues cannot do their best work without such a solidified network behind them.
But Hardest To Fill Because…
But these are hardest to fill because they require specific knowledge that is hard to come by. They need to come from someone who understands construction but does not come from a trade’s background; rather, they require technical know-how paired with administrative or managerial tasks. This uncommon combination rarely has standard career paths.
Safety coordinators need to know OSHA regulations by heart but also should know enough about the scope of the construction job to identify safety issues and possess people skills to reinforce policies without getting into a discussion. Project coordinators and project schedulers need knowledge of how construction works—what can occur simultaneously, what needs to occur in a sequence and simultaneously impacted jobs—and who can manage software accommodations to keep all engaged stakeholders informed.
Companies who have difficulty filling such essential roles can partner with specialized staffing agencies that focus on construction support services—which will make these needs filled more easily than a generalized recruitment approach. These roles have too specific knowledge to bring someone in from a general job board and hope for the best.
Construction companies might think they can get by without these roles filled, letting the project manager take on one more function or having a trades supervisor add duties to his or her day. This rarely ends up going well.
A fully loaded project manager has more than enough responsibility on a plate without adding scheduling functions while simultaneously strategically planning and engaging with clients; asking a reputable electrician or superb carpenter to manage safety documentation or schedule coordination means paying that person $40-50/hour for a skill set while wasting said person’s expertise.
Delays compound exponentially. Jobs go awry without oversight and critical path management when electricians arrive before the walls are built or concrete scheduled before there are forms in place. Materials are ordered late. Inspections are missed. Every little shortcoming is compounded.
Those Who Enjoy Them Have an Edge
The best people for these jobs typically come from years of extensive construction experience in multiple roles before pivoting into administrative or coordinative positions instead. They’ve spent enough time considering how construction works to also know how to operate—but are excessively organized, detail-oriented, and proficient in systems-thinking and technology.
People do not grow up wanting to be construction project coordinators. They either fall into these positions after spending years on-site and deciding they want to manage instead of practically implementing ideas—or they come from more administrative backgrounds and learn construction along the way.
There is a learning curve for both sides—the technical person requires competence in addition to familiarity with software skills and project management concepts. The person from an office background needs construction sequencing knowledge, approval for interdisciplinary positioning, and considerations for safety equipment. There is time needed in either direction; unfortunately, there is no short turnaround when something is vacant.
Certain construction companies have become creative bolstering their internally trained talent pipeline based on those with partial qualifications—some construction but weaker software knowledge—or superb administrative capabilities lacking any construction background—and trained into hybrid roles.
This works when companies have time
Many companies do not have the time or resources available to provide training opportunities. When someone needs a safety coordinator today because they’re starting a new job next week, it does no good developing someone over six months. Someone needs to step in yesterday.
Finally, companies have acknowledged that these need staffing solutions as opposed to permanent hires long term when someone needs certain expertise through dynamic periods, it’s easier than downsizing later when things slow down.
Other companies acknowledge that these do not need permanent hires—or if they do—temporary hires go more easily when someone else has specific experience and can bring that experience to most critical projects or busy times; then it makes sense to take downsizing steps otherwise.
The construction industry is finally recognizing that specific workers need competitive compensation at last—for too long, random support positions with less than solid jobs have been poorly compensated or jobless compared with other trades; however, specific people whose skills are increasingly hard to come by should be compensated for what they do—and with the demand, we’ll see companies shifting this way.
The staffing shortage will be continued long term
If anything, it will get worse as projects need increasingly specific information—and building a hospital requires different documentation than building a warehouse—which means dedicated personnel need clear competencies and capabilities of appropriately managing sub-projects on large-scale ones.
Construction companies that learn how to retain quality personnel will finish projects faster with fewer safety incidents or compliance oversights—and they will take larger projects on because of their supported background working behind them.
Those companies who dare work without adequate support will struggle behind them with oversight issues—time is key; you can have the best trades at your disposal, but without proper networking efforts, documentation, and safety compliance—the project will fall apart around you—construction is changing; the behind-the-scenes practicalities are just as visible as those physically constructing sites themselves.