| dc.description.abstract | The labor shortage in construction is an unsolved, continued, and increasing problem in the United States and several other countries. The Associated General Contractor’s national workforce survey results show that 83% of firms were having a hard time filling some craft worker positions. One of the most critical positions identified in this survey were drywall installers. The main objectives of this research are threefold: 1) examine the geographic origin of the drywall construction workforce, 2) determine if these locations have common characteristics, and 3) explore the background of the drywall construction workforce.
This study was completed through a researcher-designed questionnaire which was administered to drywall craft workers in three ways: a one-on-one face-to-face interview, a researcher-guided group interview, and a self-administered questionnaire. More than 76% of the workforce comes from urbanized areas where the major economic activity performed by the employed within that location is wholesale and retail trade. Factors that encourage workers to work in the drywall trade are obtaining relatively higher salary and the satisfaction of performing the work. The findings of this study provide construction professionals with necessary information to identify where promoting construction careers would be most effective overall to improve worker recruitment and retention strategies. | en |
