Iowa contractors feeling good about 2015 prospects

Iowa contractors expect the construction market to grow in 2015 with more bidding on manufacturing, retail, warehouse and lodging construction projects.

The Associated General Contractors of America on Wednesday offered a similar assessments of the construction market nationwide, saying 80 percent of construction firms plan to expand their payrolls this year, compared with only 57 percent last year. Seven percent expect to reduce overall employment.

While contractors are more optimistic about the construction market than they were in 2014, they contend the industry still faces challenges including worker shortages and regulatory burdens.

'As construction firms continue to expand, they will continue to have a difficult time finding enough skilled construction workers,” said Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America chief economist, on a conference call with reporters.

Among respondents who are trying to hire workers, 87 percent report having a hard time filling key professional and craft worker positions. Seventy-six percent of firms that are hiring report having a hard time finding qualified craft workers while 62 percent say the same about professional positions such as project managers, supervisors and estimators.

In Iowa, 39 percent report having a hard time filling some craft worker positions, but no trouble filling professional positions (project manager, supervisor, estimators). Thirty-five percent of the survey respondents believe it will become harder to find and hire qualified construction professionals over the next 12 months.

While 50 percent of the Iowa contractors responding to the survey rate the overall quality of the local pipeline for preparing new professionals 'average,” 39 percent have the same opinion when it comes to preparing new skilled craft workers.

Simonson said that as the supply of construction workers tightens, compensation levels appear to be rising. Fifty-one percent of firms nationwide report they have increased base pay rates to retain construction professionals and 46 percent have done the same to retain skilled craft workers.