Missouri construction firms say they're still struggling to find workers

The survey found that 96% of companies this year are having a hard time filling some or all open positions for hourly craft workers, while 77% said they’re having a hard time filling salaried positions, according to a release from industry trade group Associated General Contractors of America and data firm Autodesk.

Carpenters, concrete workers and cement masons are among the craft positions Missouri companies are struggling to fill. Estimating personnel, project managers and engineers are among the salaried jobs with the most difficulty, the survey showed.

Of the companies surveyed, 76% attributed their challenges to candidates lacking the necessary skills or not passing drug tests.

Missouri’s findings mirror national trends that have long impacted the construction industry.

AGC said the workforce shortage is causing project delays and cost overruns, which most of the companies nationally and in Missouri said they have passed on to clients.

“These workforce shortages are compounding the challenges firms are having with supply chain disruptions that are inflating the cost of construction materials and making delivery schedules and product availability uncertain,” Ken Simonson, the AGC’s chief economist, said in a statement.

The AGC urged political leaders to invest in career educational programs to expose more people to the construction trades while calling on federal leaders to allow more workers to lawfully enter the U.S. to help with the workforce shortage.