Dive Brief:
- The careers of civil engineer (No. 36) and construction project manager (No. 50) have made Glassdoor's 50 Best Jobs in America list for 2017.
- Glassdoor reported more than 2,000 open U.S. positions for civil engineers at a median base salary of $65,200 and more than 1,900 job openings for construction project managers at a median base rate of $85,000 annually.
- The career listing website also included job satisfaction scores when determining its ranking, with civil engineers reporting a score of 3.8 out of 5, and project managers reporting a score of 3.6 out of 5.
Dive Insight:
This latest Glassdoor ranking comes at a time when construction companies are reporting labor shortages in both hourly and salaried positions. As the list emphasizes, construction industry and related occupations have a good rate of pay, partly due to the fact that supplies of qualified employees are dwindling. In an annual survey released this year of approximately 1,300 firms, the Associated General Contractors of America reported that 73% of contractors, the same share that anticipated a necessary uptick in hiring this year, believed that they would encounter difficulties in finding enough qualified workers in 2017.
The AGC has also issued a request — and workforce development plan — to President Donald Trump urging him and his administration to make construction career training a priority as part of his proposed $1 trillion infrastructure program. The AGC has been a consistent and vocal advocate for federal training programs that can help replenish the workforce, as younger people have been hesitant to choose construction as a career and older workers are aging out of the industry.
And while some believe the dearth is just in the field labor pool, companies are finding it difficult to fill office jobs as well. Kirsti A. Hunt, vice president of human resources at LPCiminelli in Buffalo, NY, told Construction Dive this month that the company was having difficulty recruiting candidates with technical expertise. As a result, firms like LPCiminelli are adopting a wider range of programs that they hope will attract younger workers. The opportunity to become involved in charitable activities, social networking events and clubs, career development mentoring and flexible work schedules are all some of the "extras" that companies are rolling out to not only draw in but retain employees.
