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16 SAY YOU SAW IT IN SUBURBAN July 20, 2021 – August 23, 2021 By Zach Wichter BANKRATE.COM I’m breaking the fourth wall right off the bat here to say that I have a little personal experience with this topic. My dad is an independent residential electrician on Long Island, New York, so I’ve been around the building trades my whole life. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been hearing things like “there are no kids on these job sites anymore,” and more recently, “even in my 60s, I’m the youngest person on the job.” (He’s not nearly as curmudgeonly as I’m making him sound, I promise.) But he’s not wrong, either. Labor shortages in the building trades are a well-documented issue. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that as of April there were 357,000 unfilled construction jobs. Some experts believe that could be a significant undercount because BLS bases its numbers on payroll data, and many contractors are self-employed, so they don’t maintain a payroll MAINE The building trades have a labor shortage. That means higher prices PHOTO | TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE Carpenter Shane Bentley, 20, of Rochester helps to rough in a house under new construction in Shelby Township. roster. NAHB estimated that as of 2019, 2.4 million construction workers — roughly 22 percent of the labor force, a record low rate for the industry — were self-employed. With coronavirus encouraging more homeowners to take on remodeling projects and shifting homebuyer tastes in the real estate market, the homebuilding industry is under particular pressure with such a depleted labor force. While stakeholders across the industry are working to address the ebbing tide of craftspeople, the longstanding trend of hands-on jobs struggling to attract new entrants is a difficult one to reverse. There’s no single, easy-topin-down cause of the labor shortage in construction. Most industry watchers, however, said that there are two major factors that — although they don’t explain the trend entirely — are major contributors to the employment gap. The first is how construction jobs are perceived in our increasingly high-tech world. “It’s been an issue for decades, trying to attract enough people into the industry,” said Paul Emrath, vice president for survey and housing policy research at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Many parents encourage their children to pursue white collar jobs over concerns about what construction work might entail. “We spent a generation or two, a couple decades at least, suggesting that — or at least the perception is — it’s not a good career path,” said Ed Brady, president of Home Builders Institute (HBI). “We, as a society, were steering young people to four-year universities to get their degrees.” The other key factor that turns people off from construction jobs is the cyclical nature of the industry. “People were scared away during the housing downturn when we weren’t building anything, and a lot of them were scared away permanently,” Emrath said. The result is that more contractors are leaving the field than are joining it. “We’re losing five to every two new tradespeople into the industry,” Brady said. This trend is bad news for consumers, because it generally translates to higher prices. “It definitely can drive up the price of the house because it extends the time of completion for it to go on the market,” said Greg Zick, assistant vice president for workforce development at NAHB. “We’re losing that craftsman, that plumber who can rough in a house in two days because they’ve been doing it for 30 years. Now we’re bringing in someone new and they’re going to take five days instead,” Brady added. More time means a higher price tag, which is only compounded by rising material costs.
July 20, 2021 – August 23, 2021 WWW.SUBURBANREALESTATENEWS.COM • 978-532-5880 17 MAINE We’re REALTORS Real Estate Is Our Life! 158 Main Street, Route 26 South Paris, Maine 04281 “Busy as Bees to Residential - Commercial - Waterfront - Land & Farms Please.” 207-743-9303 T www.bizrealty s .net e-mail: biz@bizrealty.net 1 T 23 Norway ME $375,000 MLS#1487120 Beautiful updated 3,600 sq. ft. home in desirable location. Spacious living room with French doors, built-ins, hardwood , and insert. Eat in kitchen with stainless steel appliances. Dining room with plenty of room for gathering and celebrating. Sunroom overlooking backyard. Second and third have spacious rooms with a balcony. Whole house generator. Close to country club and golf course, enjoy the lake and hiking trails. Minutes to downtown. Paris ME $32,700 MLS#1437976 Great location just outside of town. Country setting, stonewalls, neat country club and golf course. Build or dream home and enjoy the quiet setting but minutes to town. Modular homes welcome. Woodstock ME $512,000 MLS#1499875 This 1850's, one story Cape is truly a historic beauty. Restored to maintain its classic charm, the "Old Redding Post" has wood burning stoves, a wood cookstove, and Jotul propane stove. The addition of a 2 car garage, whole house generator, sauna, and Anderson tilt windows w/ invisible screens makes the home even cozier during the winter months. Must see this picturesque property to take it all in! Paris ME $550,000 MLS#1460960 Location. Busy RT. 26, great visibility. 1.25 acres. Two buildings, many options. Live in one, run your business out of the other, rent the house for extra income. Currently used as a . Open concept offers many different uses for the building. medical, , daycare, classrooms, retail. Plenty of parking. Great investment property. Buckfield ME $88,500 MLS#1494711 Single wide 4-room, 2-bedroom, 1-bath Ranchstyle mobile. Pitched roof, vinyl siding, 1.15 acres. West Paris ME $132,000 MLS#1487940 432 square foot ranch style home with 1 bedroom and 1 bath. Set on a private 12 acres. Call and schedule your private showing today Paris ME $60,000 MLS#1493806 5-room, 2-bedroom, 1-bath home on .50 acres with metal roof and vinyl siding. Harrison ME $66,700 MLS#1438015 Spacious former lodge building waiting for new owner with ideas for use. Post & beam construction, metal roof, endless possibilities. SEE ALL OUR LISTINGS 207-743-9303 www.bizrealty .net e-mail: biz@bizrealty.net
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