COLUMBUS, Ohio — As Central Ohio experiences record growth, the region is short thousands of construction workers needed to keep up with construction projects, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors Central Ohio Chapter.
Major construction projects are underway including Intel manufacturing facilities in Licking County, which requires thousands of workers for the $20 billion project.
“Columbus is attracting a lot of construction projects from Intel to the airport to the schools, but with the amount of construction occurring and moving in, there aren’t enough people to actually work the jobs that are coming into our community. So we have a bit of a shortage and it is starting to impact what we are seeing out in the field,” said ABC Central Ohio President, Barton Hacker.
Hacker said he is hearing about delays from his partner companies due to the shortage in workers.
Representatives for Intel said the project is not impacted by worker shortages, but Hacker said the demand for a project like Intel, takes workers away from smaller projects.
“Intel is the big one, Everyone has got their eyes on that but when you have a project that is that large and attracting that many workers, all of a sudden all the other jobs that need to be done in the Columbus community don’t have necessary workforce to complete those projects on time under budget and it does become an issue,” he said.
In February, ABC reported a shortage of half a million construction workers nationwide.
Hacker said one of many solutions to this shortage, especially long term, will be getting more young people involved in the industry.
That is what staff at Ohio Construction Academy are working to accomplish.
“That’s what they preach here is that there are people who are willing to pay us high dollar amounts and as long as we stay focused and keep our head on straight then this business can give you things you could never even dream of,” said senior, Brian Durfey.
Durfey is one of 19 students who will graduate from the charter school in May, with plans to jump into construction projects in Columbus right away.
“I want to build something in Ohio that is monumental, if that is a skyscraper or anything people in Ohio can come and see and take note of I would love to be a part of that,” he said.
New data from the U.S. Census showed Columbus is continuing to grow, and maintains its spot as the 14th largest city in the nation.
10TV reached out to several developers to ask if their projects are experiencing delays due to the workforce shortage, but did not hear back.