Recently I wrote about women in construction and the many high-paying career opportunities that are now available in this field. The positive aspects of construction employment that I listed — seeing tangible results, interesting, varied and challenging work, and good pay — apply to men, as well.
Some people worry about the irregular nature of construction employment. There is some truth to this: Construction jobs took a big hit during the recent recession, the biggest since the depression of the 1930s. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, projects the annual employment rate in construction to grow by 2.6 percent between 2012 and 2020, a creation of 1.6 million jobs over this eight-year period. This expansion is the most of any sector of the economy, except for the health-care sector, which is projected to grow slightly more. According to the Bureau’s statistics, 290,000 construction jobs were added in 2014 and a similar number will be added this year.
These days, fewer young people are choosing a career in construction as parents and school officials promote high-tech careers. Consequently, the construction workforce is getting progressively older. Many of the job openings will be to replace retiring tradespeople. There is already an acute shortage of competent, skilled, motivated workers.