Survey: Kansas construction companies struggle to find skilled workers

Ninety percent of Kansas construction contractors reported they are having a hard time filling skilled jobs, according to an industry survey released Wednesday.

In the survey from Associated General Contractors, the companies said they are having particular difficulty finding project managers, engineers, welders/pipefitters, plumbers and carpenters.

AGC economist Ken Simonson said in a conference call that the phenomenon is nationwide, with 83 percent of contractors reporting difficulty. He said that some states, particularly Texas and Louisiana with their growth in petrochemical facilities, are seeing big shortages. Twenty Kansas firms participated in the survey, Simonson said.

The construction industry has run into two trends: the aging and retirement of much of its skilled workforce and many of its workers leaving the industry after being laid off in 2008 and 2009.

“The biggest problem is that, with the amount of work coming up, we have a huge amount of folks reaching retirement age,” said Brian Burnett, assistant training director of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Apprenticeship Training program of Kansas, adding that “55 percent of our craftsmen will be retiring in the next 13 years.”

In addition to the demographic changes, the construction industry saw many of its workers leave during the recession – moving to related industries, such as building oil and gas pipelines, or wind farms.

Humberto Jimenez, human resource manager at Conco, said he has openings right now for skilled workers.

“During the peak this summer, we could have easily filled 20 positions,” he said. “We’ve been able to fill some of them, but we’re still looking for skilled craft.”

Needed skilled craftsmen include: carpenters, roofers, pipefitter/plumbers, equipment operators, cement masons, iron workers, electricians and brick layers, among others.

Needed professionals include: project managers, engineers, estimators and safety officers.

The Kansas respondents said they were having to pay more to keep their workers.

They also said they expected it to remain hard, or to become harder, to find skilled workers. They rated their local pipeline for producing new craft workers as 65 percent poor or below average, but rated the local pipeline for professionals as 35 percent poor or below average.

Mike Gibson, executive vice president of AGC of Kansas, said Kansas is a lot closer to closing that gap than most other states.

That’s because the industry recognized a decade ago that there was a need to keep filling the pipeline with young talent. The state’s AGC has worked to get a specialized construction curriculum taught in high schools and community colleges.

That mission became easier in 2012 when the state created a program through Senate Bill 155 that pays high schools that get their students to enroll in high-demand vocational training programs through community colleges.

Gibson said he thinks many of the students who are taking advantage of the vocational training will follow up by seeking jobs in construction or heading off to a four-year college for a professional job in construction.

“We are so well positioned we are recognized as having one of the best practices around the country,” Gibson said.

This story was originally published October 22, 2014 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Survey: Kansas construction companies struggle to find skilled workers."