The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) has conducted a survey regarding the contractors’ plan to expand the staff pool, and it finds about 80% of the total member contractors are planning to expand the staff pool by the end of this year. Merely 7% has had plan to reduce the numbers of workforces, and the remaining contractors are not in mood to change their staff size.
AGC chief executive Stephen E. Sandherr says, “Contractors are extremely optimistic about the outlook for 2015.” Further he adds, “Indeed, if their predictions prove true, industry employment could expand this year by the most in a decade.”
Mr. Sandherr finds in the survey that the possible growth rate in staff expansion, which is about 80%, is significantly higher than the number of staffs expanded in the year 2014. Nevertheless, the contractors who are planning to expand the pool this year are supposed to make merely modest increment in the numbers, with 90% of the contractors are looking forward to increase the pool of employees by ¼ or less by the end of this year.
As the crane construction requirement in private sectors is intensifying day-by-day, the crane contractors feel to expand their staff pool. Contractors were supposed to be most hopeful regarding some key sectors such as warehouse, logistics, and retail. In addition, they were also believed to be hopeful regarding some big construction projects related to the public sectors.
The chief economist Ken Simonson at the Associated General Contractors of America quoted, “Despite the overall optimism, some challenges remain for the industry. In particular, as construction firms continue to expand, they will continue to have a difficult time finding enough skilled construction workers.”
