If Rhode Island’s economy is in a recession – and most local economists say it is – it hasn’t done much to dampen the demand for construction workers.
“Most of our (members) are still clicking along, and there’s still a shortage of quality people,” said Eric Anderson, executive director of the Rhode Island chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America.
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With construction activity in the public and private sectors booming over the past several years, Rhode Island contractors have had little to complain about – except for an extremely tight job market.
It appears little has changed, despite the tanking economy. Construction activity in Rhode Island remains relatively brisk, and skilled labor still is hard to come by, contractors say.
“Throughout the spring, summer and fall it’s been a very tight (labor) market,” said George Agostini, owner of Bacon Construction Co. in East Providence, which primarily builds schools. “This year actually was worse than past years (for finding workers).”
Agostini said he had to use three different masonry subcontractors on recent jobs – in addition to the company’s own 60 bricklayers – because he couldn’t find enough masons. He said it took him about three months to line up the 28 bricklayers he needed for a $32 million school project in Dartmouth, Mass.
Recently released statistics from the state Department of Labor reflect the construction sector’s strong employment.
The number of contract construction jobs in Rhode Island has either grown or remained the same for eight consecutive months through October, when there were 21,600 construction-related jobs, according to the DLT. That figure has remained roughly the same since June.
Difficulty finding workers has been compounded by high demand for construction labor in Connecticut and Massachusetts, both of which have also been busy with big projects.
“In Connecticut, there have been the big casino projects, and those have been sucking workers out of Rhode Island,” said Edward Burman Jr., president of E.W. Burman Inc., a Warwick general contractor that does restoration work on commercial and industrial buildings. He said masons as well as electrical and mechanical workers have been in short supply.
But many contractors are looking cautiously ahead to the spring, when some say there could be a lull in activity that could create some slack in the trade-labor pool.
“We’re already starting to see some minor signs that (the job market) might be loosening,” Burman said.
He said he is seeing more subcontractors actively looking for work, whereas six months ago it was tough to hire subs because they were too busy. And Burman thinks a slowdown in both private and public projects could be looming this spring, although nobody will know for sure until after contracts are signed this winter.
“On the private side, I think a lot of people might be re-thinking large projects,” Burman said.
And contractors who rely on government spending are leery of state budget shortfalls. Rhode Island has projected a budget deficit of nearly $100 million for fiscal 2002. Massachusetts’ estimated budget gap reportedly is approaching $1.5 billion.
“In Massachusetts, a lot of contracts and bond issues have already been appropriated,” said Agostini, whose company has school-construction contracts in Fall River, Seekonk and Franklin, Mass. “The question mark is what happens after those projects are through the pipeline.”
While it’s possible that the sluggish economy could finally put the brakes on construction activity next year, there might be enough momentum from a backlog of projects to keep the industry moving forward.
“I think a lot of contractors are being carried by the backlog of work that they’ve accumulated over the past few years,” said William B. Sweeney, an economics professor at Bryant College. He added that many contractors are finding it “almost impossible” to hire workers in some trades.
“The construction industry usually takes a big hit during a recession, but that hasn’t come to pass,” Sweeney said. “I’m not saying it’s recession-proof. I think you’re going to see a downturn in the spring, but I don’t think it will be much of a downturn.”
