Local contractors hiring despite construction slowdown

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte general contractors saw a bump in hiring over the last year despite a sharp decline in new office projects and a slowdown in multifamily and manufacturing construction.

But industry leaders say it’s still not enough.

Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, said Charlotte’s increase in construction employment has slowed in the last 12 months compared to the previous several years. That’s due, in part, to the absence of new office development.

“Nevertheless, Charlotte is consistently one of those metro areas experiencing higher growth than the country as whole,” he said. “The industry will still be looking for workers.”

Between June 2023 and June 2024, the number of construction jobs in the Charlotte metro rose by 0.6%, to 79,400, according to data from the AGC. Statewide, that number is up 3.2%, beating the national average by less than half a percentage point.

Simonson said the construction industry has added workers at a faster rate than the overall labor force, but the number of job openings remains elevated.

“It has come down somewhat from a year ago, but the industry has a lot of work it wants to do,” he said. “(Contractors) have been more successful than in the past at attracting and hanging onto workers but still not enough to ease their workforce crunch.”

Attracting new workers remains the industry’s greatest challenge, Simonson said. General contractors and the AGC spend a great deal of time trying to do just that.

Read more here.

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