February 12, 2025
By Bob Risser, Precast / Prestressed Concrete Industry, CLC Member
The United States is experiencing a worker shortage that continues to negatively impact the design/construction industry. I hear it from our precast concrete producers around the country reporting that it’s their top issue in meeting workplace demands to keep up with more infrastructure projects – many of which are being funded by the government. And it is not just our sector of the construction industry – it’s across the board impacting manufacturers, general contractors and subcontractors nationwide.
There are several reasons America faces construction delays. In addition to regulatory requirements, costs and other conditions, we just do not have enough construction workers to meet demand. According to a model developed by Associated Builders and Contractors, the construction industry will need to bring in nearly 454,000 new workers on top of normal hiring to meet industry demand, a number that does not take into account construction growth in 2025 and beyond.
A range of possible policy tools and business practices could address this problem. As a member of the Construction Leadership Council, a [Washington DC based] policy initiation forum of business executives, we are constantly seeking new opportunities to create more supply of products and contributing to our nation’s economic success. As the U.S. improves its infrastructure across the board, we now have more projects. However, the challenge is that there aren’t enough workers to meet this demand. One proven solution would be to expand on programs that bring a limited number of workers into the country to help in building America’s infrastructure, similarly to one for agribusiness. As more data centers and other facilities are needing to be constructed here in the U.S., a construction-dedicated program for skilled as well as unskilled workers would help facilitate this timely demand. A congressional proposal has considered a legal, targeted short term visa program for industries like construction. The bill, the “Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act, would create a market-driven, non-immigrant visa program benefiting industry positions that don’t require a college degree. Such legislation would not jeopardize the priority to properly secure our borders and to strictly enforce immigration laws.
A new public opinion survey that our group commissioned shows that Americans across the board support a targeted policy for addressing the worker shortages in the design/construction industry.
According to the TechnoMetrica/TIPP poll conducted in January, 2025, fifty-five percent of Americans, including sixty-five percent of Democrats and forty-nine percent of Republicans, back worker visa programs for essential jobs. Seventy-eight percent of Americans——over three-quarters——consider it important to address workforce shortages, which are delaying vital building and infrastructure projects.
In addition, sixty-four percent of Americans support short term visas for builders, including seventy-six percent of Democrats and fifty-nine percent of Republicans.
Most importantly, support for a limited short-term visa program to address the construction labor shortage is strong across both sides of the border enforcement debate. Sixty-seven percent of enforcement supporters and sixty-nine percent of opponents back the measure, suggesting a broad recognition of the need for practical workforce solutions.
According to Mark Casso, another founding member of the Construction Leadership Council and CEO of the Construction Leadership Round Table, “This critical cross-cutting support is even more pronounced when applied to the specialty needs in the design and construction community, where architects, surveyors, and engineers of all types are often in short supply.”
In other words, an opportunity is presented by the cross-cutting level of support among Americans who are very concerned with the crisis at the border and want stricter immigration laws. And in these politically polarizing times, we must seize the opportunity to act wherever common ground exists.
A worker visa program is not the only possible solution to the workforce shortage, but it must be on the table this year. This enhanced visa program will help close the workforce gap, as the industry continues to recruit and train workers, including discharged U.S. servicemen and women, in the construction trades.
Under a worker visa program, employees would be required to prove they were not terminating U.S. employees in favor of new visa holders. Rather, the companies would have to show that they were unable to find American workers for vacant positions. Companies would have to pay fair wages based on local wage data and use E-Verify to make sure only legal immigrants were hired in accordance with strict visa requirements.
Along with the Construction Leadership Council, I call on President Trump’s policy advisors at the Department of Labor and the White House, as well as congressional leaders, to support a series of steps to address the worker shortage – including an enhanced, specialized visa program. As we work with Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to further these efforts, we applaud Representative Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) for his leadership over the last few years on promoting this type of policy and look forward to his continued leadership in 2025 [or in this Congress].
We need to supercharge the workforce to fill the enormous demand in the short term to help rebuild America. This new polling data highlights the public’s support for solutions that balance workforce needs regardless of one’s views of the current immigration debate. We think we have found the one area of agreement for Americans regardless of party identification, age, geography and gender.
Bob Risser, President and CEO, Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute www.pci.org
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