Effective strategies to reduce the impacts of skilled worker shortages in the construction industry
Date
2018
Authors
Atluri, Eeswar, author
Strong, Kelly, advisor
Senior, Bolivar, committee member
Clemons, Stephanie, committee member
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Abstract
One of the most common problems over recent years in the construction industry is the supply of skilled workers to the industry. Across the United States, over the years this has been identified repeatedly. During the great recession, many of the unemployed workers shifted into the more stable industries. In the recent years, baby boomer generation (born 1946 to 1965) retirement and a decrease in unemployment rates indicate a skilled workforce shortage in the United States. Skilled workforce shortages have some impacts on the industry. These impacts could be reduced by training the new low skilled workers coming into the industry. However, there has been limited research to identify the strategies that can be implemented during the design and planning stage. This thesis reports the results of interviews with eight industry professionals and explored their view on each impact identified during the literature review. The researchers collected participant responses through convenience sample interview questionnaire to identify the strategies used and suggested by the participants. Through this qualitative study, it was expected that a list of suggested and current strategies towards the impacts would emerge. This data was then used to create a structured survey to find the effectiveness of the strategies identified through the interviews. The researchers collected participant responses with structured electronic survey through random sampling of the Design Build Institute of America. The results indicated the majority of the participants thought prefabrication could be the most efficient way to reduce the negative impacts on the construction industry. Both qualitative and quantitative results emphasized the shift towards prefabrication can be more efficient than any other strategies identified.
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Subject
shortages
strategies
skilled worker
construction