The skilled labor shortage is growing and many commercial construction employers don’t know how to find skilled employees.
Are you a skilled labor employer looking to hire skilled labor?
Do you know the best place to find construction workers?
It can be overwhelming, but here’s the good news: the workers are out there and available—you just need to know where and how to find them. Even amidst such a labor shortage, you can find and hire top talent to increase production and benefit your bottom line.
Ready to learn more about how to hire construction employees quickly and efficiently?
In this article, we’re sharing industry tips and secrets on how to find skilled construction workers. Keep reading to learn how you can start hiring the tradespeople you need today.
Is there really a shortage of skilled workers in construction?
Unfortunately, yes. Here’s how it looks:
These facts show that:
But as a commercial construction employer, you need workers. So, how do you find and hire the workers you need during this challenging time?
If you want to know how to find construction labor, it may mean making some changes to your hiring process.
Before we share the best place to find construction workers, though, let’s take a look at some of the more traditional ways employers look for workers.
Creating an internal department to handle the recruitment and hiring process is how employers have hired candidates for decades. This method often involves some form of the following:
These are all ways to connect with potential employees and get your name out into the marketplace. But they also require that you have extra:
What if you invest these four things into hiring and don’t get much return? That’s what’s happening recently in the skilled labor employment space. In fact, you may be experiencing this already and know how frustrating it can be.
An internal department is necessary to help onboard new hires, but it may not be the best way to find and hire skilled labor in this shortage.
Another potential option is to set up a referral program that provides bonuses to any employees who successfully refer new hires.
A referral program provides some benefits like:
However, a referral program also means that you’re relying heavily on your employees, who may not have the time or energy to think about referring potential candidates.
Additionally, there may be a lack of quality assurance or control with referrals until you spend the time to personally vet and interview these potential hires. Connecting with poor candidates means more wasted time and money.
Referral programs can help you cast a wider net and decrease some costs, but it’s not the best option to successfully find and hire candidates every time you need them.
Lastly, you could use a staffing or temp agency to help you find skilled workers. These companies work with employers to help find candidates and fill employment vacancies.
A recruiting agency can be beneficial as it:
But the traditional model of trade labor recruiting hasn’t been able to meet the needs of trade labor employers. You also need to find a good recruiter or agency, which can be a challenge.
The ideal recruiting and hiring process involves:
Fortunately, this process does exist, and it could be the solution you’re looking for.
Given the growing demand for construction projects and the decreasing availability of skilled workers, the companies that will get ahead know how to find construction labor.
Your internal hiring process may have some success, and a referral program could generate some opportunities. Reaching out to a recruiting agency is an excellent way to complement your internal processes but may still leave you without adequate candidates.
But there is a way to satisfy your staffing needs every time they arise: Skillwork’s travel staffing approach to skilled labor recruiting.
At Skillwork, our goal is to make finding and hiring skilled construction workers quick, easy, and affordable. We can find the right hire nearly 85% of the time—we know how to find skilled employees.
What makes us so successful and different from a traditional temp agency?
We do all the heavy lifting of finding, vetting, and delivering candidates to you so you can:
Submit an online form today to schedule your obligation-free consultation. We’re ready to help you find the skilled workers you need.