BEACONPHOTOS/JOECREWS
Ontheoutside—These craftsmen work on the exterior of a home being built in D.R. Horton Express Homes’ Sugarberry Glen subdivision near DeLand. Five homes are in varying stages of construction in the 45-lot, roughly 20-acre subdivision. Another dozen or so are built and occupied.
Layingafoundation—Workers prepare the foundation on another home under construction in the Sugarberry Glen subdivision off North Blue Lake Avenue near DeLand. D.R. Horton Express Homes is building the 45-lot neighborhood, where about a dozen homes are occupied and five more are under construction, including this one.
Nearly two-thirds of Florida’s contractors say they’re having trouble filling craft-labor positions, which comprise most of the construction workforce, according to a national industry association.
A recent survey by the Associated General Contractors of Americashows 61 percent of the state’s contractors reported hiring difficulty was highest for heavy-equipment operators, concrete workers, carpenters, mechanics and truck drivers.
And the pinch also is being felt locally, industry officials said.
“Yes, our members are having staffing problems, especially in the skilled trades,” said Sandy Bishop, executive director of the Volusia Building Industry Association. “Every contractor needs people with a little bit of training, safety skills and common sense … and the basics of measuring and cutting.”
Bishop quoted one builder who said he could use a dozen skilled laborers immediately.
“It’s not something you can turn over to unskilled workers,” Bishop said of construction work.
Bob Fitzsimmons, chief executive of Gallery Homes of DeLand, agreed there’s a shortage of craft workers.
“There’s no doubt,” Fitzsimmons said. “On the average home, about three weeks have been added to construction times.”
The problem is that trades subcontractors don’t have enough skilled workers to handle in a timely way the amount of work builders want to give them. Consequently, projects back up while waiting for the subs to complete multiple jobs, Fitzsimmons said.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported this week that sales of new homes fell 7.6 percent in August in all regions of the country except the West, The Associated Press reported. Sales fell 12.3 percent in the South.
The drop came after July’s surge in sales to the fastest pace since October 2007, but the August sales were still up a solid 20.1 percent from August 2015, the report said.
At least part of the slowdown was attributed to a lack of available homes for sale, the AP said.
Fitzsimmons and Bishop agree that the building-construction career academy, started at DeLand High School last year but expanded to four more schools this year, could be an important gateway for getting young people into the industry, which would help alleviate the shortage of skilled workers.
The academies teach employability skills in the construction industry through the use of work-based experiences, while also encouraging students to take honors, advanced-placement and dual-enrollment courses.
Fitzsimmons said many students — and their parents, for that matter — don’t realize how financially rewarding careers in the construction trades can be.
“In this industry, regardless of the trade, they can make more than a teacher in Volusia County,” he said. “In the more skilled trades, they can probably be making well over $50,000 a year within three to five years. Once they become a supervisor, they’ll be in the $60,000 range.”
To access more results from the Associated General Contractors of America’s Florida survey, go to http://tinyurl.com/zgrdylb.
- Joe Crews, joe@beacononlinenews.com