It's getting more and more difficult to find commercial construction workers. In addition to the shortage of those in the skilled trades, residential contractors are able to provide a more flexible environment. That means most of the talent pool looks there first. Still more workers freelance, making it difficult for commercial contractors to plan ahead with the knowledge they'll have a filled crew by the time work needs to be done.
What this boils down to is that more businesses are competing for a pool of workers that is more spread out than ever before. This means you need to incentivize new hires, widen your search, and/or get assistance in your search:
Higher Pay
This is a hard sell for many contractors. If you're trying to find commercial construction workers who prefer freelancing or working on the residential side, then you simply have to increase the appeal of the commercial sector. The most basic way to do that is to increase pay.
Work with Staffing Agencies
In an environment that is less likely to provide long-term careers in one place or for one business, workers have adapted. They'll freelance, contract seasonally, work across the country for a few months, whatever it takes. The pool of workers you're looking for isn't shallower as much as it's constantly adapting and shifting.
Work with a staffing agency to be able to keep better track of how this labor pool shifts and evolves. You might not have a fully staffed, technologically cutting-edge HR department. A staffing agency can serve that role extremely efficiently.
Keep in Touch
Keep in touch with former workers. The number of jobs you need to fill changes regularly. If someone works well in your business, they should be your first call when you need to expand your numbers again. Too often, these contacts are left to gather dust as commercial contractors begin a fresh search.
Maintain Surplus Crew
It's absolutely essential for commercial contractors of a certain size to maintain surplus crew. Having a few extra workers means being able to cover unexpected sick days or emergencies. It means not having to worry if someone drops out of a job at the last minute. It's far more cost efficient to keep extra crew on when you don't need them than to delay projects because you don't have enough crew.
Either way, you win: a few jobs may get done earlier because there are extra pairs of hands. If you do need help, you have extra crew to help clean, assure safety, and communicate with clients.
If you need reliable, skilled commercial construction workers, contact Labor For Hire today - and get to work!
