It has been a little over a year since the COVID 19 pandemic began and we are still feeling the after-effects of its impacts over the past year. With more of the population getting vaccinated and some states loosening restrictions, it feels as though we are getting back to normal but there are still many challenges upon us in the construction industry.
Material supply chain and volatile pricing continue to impact new starts with our Clients as many are eager to get shovels in the ground but we are challenged to hold pricing for extended periods of time like we could pre-pandemic. Then, if we are able to get the project going there are extended lead times that we are dealing with to hold our schedules, timely purchasing to mitigate further price increases and expedited submittal procurement are extremely important in our current environment.
Skilled labor continues to be a battle across the industry as there aren’t enough skilled experienced workers to keep up with demand which existed pre-pandemic, it has seemingly got worse and more challenging to get adequate resources to our projects. Looking down the road a few years it is unlikely to improve, the industry is not seeing enough new young talent coming in to replace the current lacking workforce.
Andrew Rahrig, LEED AP
Vice President, Construction
The Douglas Company
