There’s a construction worker shortage—but I don’t need to tell you that. While the economy rebounds and the projects roll in, Baby Boomers are leaving but Millennials (the generation born between 1980ish and 2000ish) aren’t taking their place.
Why? Some theories:
- They crave financial stability, and construction work is largely seasonal.
- They value formal education, and construction is an apprentice-based profession.
- They want flexible schedules, and construction is a 9-5 (or, let’s be honest, a 7-6) job.
Without a doubt, those are all valid theories, but there’s not much you—as an individual employer—can do about them.
So I’ve come up with a guide to managing Millennials in construction: Five characteristics of typical Millennials* and practical ways for a business of any size to adjust. Most of these ideas will be an easy adjustment, others will take more planning or resources, but all should help you find and keep the new workers you need.
(*Obviously, people are different and it’s not fair to lump them all together just because of when they were born. But for the purposes of this blog post, I’m going to do it anyway.)
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