As part of the current DaVinci Offsite Construction Roundtable on “Solving for Labor,” I’m hearing problems and solutions to what factories are doing to help attract and sustain production and middle management positions.
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data from the U.S. Department of Labor, the average age of workers in the construction industry is 42.5. The shift to a 42.5-year average age from a 40.5-year average age happened within a 7-year time frame in construction.
Between the attendees in the Roundtable and the data above, our industry is definitely seeing an aging workforce. Adding to the aging concerns, the BLS found construction labor had a median time in the construction of only 4.3 years. One of the reasons for such a short time on the job is the number of younger workers entering construction that leave soon after joining a company.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion, known as DEI, is a popular yet sensitive topic in the workforce today. Leadership and HR that recognize this are finding ways to ensure employees from all races, ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations, religions, etc., are represented. Sometimes included, but often left out, is age.
Age shows no color, race, religion, sex, etc. It just is. People get older, and as they do, workplace biases may become evident.
What is considered old?
In a 2022 study by LiveCareer, Forty-three percent of those surveyed said 40-plus is old. Twenty-six percent said 50-plus is old. And 21% said 60-plus is old. So, if you are 50, with probably 15 or more years until retirement, 69% of the people you work with think you are old.
Younger management tends to see workers over 50 as old, and with the construction industry worker only having a tenure of 4.3 years on the job, management realizes they must act soon, or they will be staffed with young people that are only working for them long enough to find a “real job.”
And don’t think age bias only happens in the construction industry. It happens everywhere.
Making hiring and firing decisions based on age is illegal, but age discrimination is rampant in the tech industry, and everyone knows it. According to Payscale, the median age is 28 at Facebook, 30 at Google, 29 at LinkedIn and SalesForce, and 33 at Microsoft.
One of the solutions mentioned in the Roundtable for the offsite construction factory was to look for older workers that have left their last job because of age bias. Many older workers have supervisory skills and some even have skills that would fit nicely into the production line that your factory needs.
Looking at the age group over 50 as a potential source of labor could be a good solution for our industry. But how do you attract them? Now that is the question the Roundtable attendees will be tackling in this week’s session.
The DaVinci Offsite Construction Roundtables meet every month. To learn about the new topics and registration announcements, keep checking on ModularHomes.com for upcoming discussions.
Gary Fleisher, Contributing Editor
