Masonry Magazine February 1993 Page. 36
Labor Supply Requires
Productivity Exam
By MARK McCOLLOUGH
Senior Consultant, FMI Corporation
The construction industry is facing a severe manpower shortage, and there is some major concern about what is causing it. Conventional thinking holds that the manpower shortage is caused by a shrinking labor pool. An opposing view holds that the labor shortage is caused by ineffective use of the industry's current work force.
In the past thirty years, the construction industry has undergone a tremendous amount of change. Few changes have impacted the industry more than the changing work force. Just fifteen years ago, the industry was hiring from the center of the baby boom-a group of 80-million people born between 1946 and 1964. The baby boom provided the construction industry with an abundant supply of workers.
The baby boom came to a stop in 1964 with the advent of more effective birth control and women reentering the work force. The birth rate began to steadily decline. The result was called the "baby bust" or the "birth dearth."
Today, the construction industry is feeling the effects of the baby bust with relatively few workers available for hire. The baby bust is making it very difficult for all types of companies to find qualified workers. Construction is being hit exceptionally hard because of its low image status. In fact, in a survey conducted by a national publication, construction was ranked seventeenth out of eighteen possible careers by graduating high school seniors.
Certainly an argument can be made for attributing the manpower shortage on the shrinking labor pool. But let's consider how well the construction industry is using its current work force. Perhaps an increase in the present work force's productivity could offset the need for more workers.
On any jobsite, all workers are en
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36 MASONRY JANUARY/FEBRUARY, 1993