The Arkansas Traveler is told by the owner of a construction company that is understaffed that he had hired inexperienced workers.
He stated that he was looking for workers who were "absolutely not familiar with my industry".
He said that most of his new hires were "flat-out lazy" and that he had fired them all.
An owner of a construction company with insufficient staff claims he is so desperate for workers that he has started hiring people who don't have any experience in the industry.
Concrete Creations and Excavations, in Centerton Arkansas, is owned by JD Huddleston. He told The Arkansas Traveler that since the outbreak of the pandemic, he had struggled to find qualified workers.
Huddleston stated that his company was losing revenue due to the shortage and that he was being forced to work on the construction crews.
According to the report, he stated that he was "turning down work all the while now".
As record numbers of Americans leave their jobs to seek better wages, benefits, or working conditions, the US is experiencing a labor shortage. Other small businesses with fewer staff have also reported that the labor shortage is affecting their incomes.
Huddleston stated to the publication that he had increased wages and offered vacation benefits to new employees. He also hired staff from another contractor in order to fill his labor shortage. Huddleston also stated that he was employing inexperienced employees.
He said, "I'm being forced to pay men $18-20 an hour who absolutely don't know how to operate within my industry to get them to come up,"
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020 construction workers earned an average hourly wages of $20.92, and an average annual salary of $43,520. These figures are based on data from BLS.
Huddleston stated to The Arkansas Traveler that most of his new staff had been fired because they weren't hardworking enough.
He said, "I'll almost certainly have seven of the eight guys I hire to leave them in 30 days because they're just plain lazy."
Continue the story
The pandemic saw a boom in construction demand, but the industry's workforce declined, falling from 7.65million workers in February 2020 down to 6.53million just two months later.
Matthew Messer, who owns New York Solar Maintenance, said that hiring has been difficult for the past ten years, but that the pandemic had made it even more difficult. "We are all competing for a small labor pool."
Construction companies are offering higher wages and sign-on bonus to encourage more workers to return to the sector. According to preliminary data from the BLS, there were 7.45 million Americans working in this industry in September.
In order to keep their doors open, more companies are hiring people with no or little experience in the labor shortage. Virginia restaurant manager said that she needed staff so badly she had to hire rude people who, she claimed, scared off customers.
Expanded Coverage Module: what-is-the-labor-shortage-and-how-long-will-it-last
Business Insider has the original article.
