Future Construction Industry Trends | Page 3

INTRODUCTION According to the Associated General Contractors of America, employment opportunities throughout the Construction Industry are improving, especially in the North Central Texas area. Construction unemployment has fallen sharply in the last four years, although from April 2010 to April 2014 there was a 1,123,000 decrease in construction employees. This in itself indicates opportunity because it is estimated that 674,000 construction employees left the industry during that time due to retirement, competition from other industry sectors and fewer veterans entering the industry. This has left widespread shortages in all facets of the industry. The strength of the construction industry can be found in many segments such as:          Multifamily Manufacturing, especially petrochemical, and oil and gas supply Oil & gas fields Pipelines Warehouses Lodging (hotels & resorts) Rail Data centers Highway and Roads Discussion with the Construction Industry business community reflects concern that demand for highly skilled workers is greater than the supply. In Texas, we have discovered a leak in the pipeline between the numbers of students who enter into college and the number who exit, which results in costly loss of expenditures and leads to a loss of skilled workers. Since 1987, North Central Texas InterLink has been the leader in industry driven labor market forecasting for the North Central Texas region, to help influence the future of career and technical education programs at the secondary and post-secondary levels which prepares students for the workforce. This report on the future of the Construction Industry is the third in a series of reports produced by InterLink about future trends in specific industries to help guide educators and students toward the next wave of knowledge, skills and technologies for education programs and practices. Previous Reports include the future of Information Technology and Health Care Industries. Subsequent reports will be published identifying the future of other industries. We were fortunate to have Construction Industry Partners involved with the endeavor whose members participated as Construction Industry Thought Leaders to identify future trends that will affect the industry. This report identifies thirteen trends in the Construction Industry to help guide students in choosing a career and to assist 3