How the national construction workers shortage is impacting home prices

Over the last four years, the construction industry has experienced a surge in demand for labor and in new government funding for major infrastructure projects. This year there is a shortage of about 500,000 construction workers, which experts say is the biggest issue builders are currently facing. 

The construction worker shortage is driving up home costs, since less construction workers means less residential construction. Kit Dickinson, an industry executive at a human capital management solutions provider, said that the issue "boils down to that age-old supply and demand in the sense of if there are fewer workers to work on the projects, that's going to elongate the project, the completion, that's going to increase the cost of the project itself."

In order to mitigate this worker shortage, short- and long-term solutions are important. One way to grow the workforce, experts said, is to allow more immigrants into the country to fill construction jobs, or for the U.S. to create a stronger pipeline of young people interested in pursuing construction as a career through federal funding. Another way is to make the industry more appealing to women, whether it's by creating nursing stations at the job site or making the equipment more tailored to different genders and body types. 

Read more: Business Insider 

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