The Recession and The Construction Industry – Time Mag
rjw
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“The Great Recession: Will Construction Workers Survive? “The middle and working-classes have been hammered by the Great Recession and no industry has taken it more on the chin than construction. Nationally, unemployment fell to 9.7% in January, but in construction it jumped to 24.7% from 18.7% in October. Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1960639,00.html?xid=rss-fullnation-yahoo#ixzz0erT2in47
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I don't have to read an
I don't have to read an article to know. I was laid off after over three years with the same company. I worked on the side and made a decent living for about two months until that work abruptly ended. I got lucky and got on with one of the largest mechanical contractors in my area, but work is getting tight again. I won't be surprised if lay-offs start up again really soon. Last I heard, it was supposed to be looking up, with an increase in new projects, but I'm just not seeing it.
Get ready everyone, it's coming again.
When they say "the recession's over" it just means that the economic contraction has stopped, it doesn't mean everything's suddenly back to normal. The construction industry had a huge boom fueled by cheap mortgage and home equity credit, at least on the residential side, and that's way, way over, even with rates at ~5% for conforming 30-year loans. There are too many people in the construction industry and they'll continue to get squeezed out until supply matches demand. I don't expect this year or next to be much good, taken as a national average (some guys might have great years, others will leave the industry) and figure that 2012 may be the first year with a significant uptick. The players left standing at that point will enjoy a solid market and will have plenty of employees to choose from, at least for a short period until all of those who got sidelined flood back into the market.