The construction industry (along with many other sectors of the region’s economy) is falling short of filling job openings. Some firms find themselves turning away jobs because they do not have enough workers.
It would make sense, then, if the industry would hire its next generation of employees from a fast-growing segment of the population. And yet, at present, that is not the case.
The numbers are stark. In the last decade, in all years but one, well more than 80 percent of the construction-industry workforce was white. At the same time, more than 95 percent of the workforce was male.
These figures stand in contrast to the racial and gender breakdown for the population in general, indicating a lost opportunity for construction firms. For instance, in 2017, 87.9 percent of construction workers were white, 4.6 percent were black and 7.5 percent were all other races. And 98 percent were male.
In contrast, Rhode Island’s population in the 2016 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau was 80.5 percent white, 6.4 percent black and 13.1 percent all other races. And the percentage of the total population older than 18 was 52.2 percent female. Clearly there is an opportunity here to fill jobs in an industry that does not require an overwhelming amount of advanced education.
Some companies, such as Gilbane Building Co., whose efforts to increase the diversity of its workforce are profiled in this week’s cover story, understand the potential that diversity represents. Hopefully it won’t be the only construction employer that does.
