Why Your Best Workers Keep Quitting (and It’s Not About Pay)
Clark Lowe, President and CEO of O’Connor Company
The commercial construction industry is staring down a grim reality. The industry-wide labor shortage, once considered temporary, has become persistent. Construction companies across the United States were unable to fill over half a million positions last year, and a predicted 454,000 positions will remain vacant in 2025.
Desperate to keep projects on track, many firms have turned to recruitment campaigns and higher wages to fill the void. Yet, even as pay rises, the exodus of skilled workers continues – and it’s clear that throwing money at the problem isn’t the solution. The issue isn’t just about pay; it’s about systemic cracks in how construction companies operate. Until those deeper issues are addressed, recruitment efforts are little more than a band-aid.
Why Recruitment Alone Won’t Fix Construction’s Worker Shortfall
The labor shortage in commercial construction is a structural issue driven by demographic shifts and changing social expectations. Much of the industry’s workforce entered the trades through unions or apprenticeship programs. However, as older workers retire, decades of accumulated experience are evaporating, and there aren’t enough younger workers stepping up to take their place.
Part of the problem lies in the pipeline. For years, parents and society at large have encouraged young people to pursue four-year college degrees, often dismissing trade work entirely. The result? Graduates carry skyrocketing student loan debt into saturated white-collar fields with suppressed wages. Meanwhile, construction struggles to attract new talent.
Our industry cannot recruit its way out of the labor shortage because parents have taught an entire generation to look elsewhere. They point to college as the golden ticket to career success. Many even dismiss trade work as less honorable or rewarding.
Employers reinforce this cultural bias by continually demanding four-year degrees for jobs that don’t necessarily require them. Even in the construction industry, government regulations often prioritize technical certifications and degrees over real-world experience.
But there’s hope on the horizon. Trade school enrollment is trending upward as the financial burden of college pushes many young people toward more practical, hands-on careers. Parents are increasingly recognizing the value of skilled trades and encouraging their children to explore alternatives to traditional higher education. The shift is beginning, but it’ll take time to produce a meaningful impact.
Will System Clarity and Better Project Sequencing Close the Gap?
One solution to the industry’s labor shortage focuses on increasing efficiency. This shift involves improved project sequencing, AI-driven scheduling tools, and technology designed to optimize workflows.
The new tech is revolutionary, but it won’t solve everything. Many contractors are already using it to the maximum extent possible. Yes, running projects more efficiently can partially close the gap, but even with modern technology, integrating AI scheduling and a healthy dose of overtime, the gap continues to widen. I tend to believe that even if we doubled the size of the industry’s available workforce, there would still be enough work to go around.
Striving for operational efficiency is not a substitute for addressing the underlying causes of the labor shortage. Firms will see the greatest impact when they prioritize efficiency that reduces worker burnout and reliance on constant overtime schedules. In other words, they will gain a greater advantage from the new technology if they utilize it to provide their employees with a better day-to-day experience.
What Most Firms Get Wrong About Retention and Upskilling
One of the fundamental mistakes the industry continues to make is focusing too heavily on recruitment as a way out of this crisis. When faced with worker shortages, companies scramble to bring in fresh faces. They hire fast and aggressively, assuming that adding bodies will inherently solve operational challenges. However, turnover rates remain alarmingly high because recruitment alone does not address the underlying reasons why workers are leaving in the first place.
Workers don’t want to be hired onto a sinking ship. They want job environments that make sense – a clear system for executing projects, safe working conditions, and managers who respect their time and input. Yet, in the rush to recruit workers, companies often overlook fixing the systems that caused the shortages in the first place. The consequence? Newly hired workers quit just as fast as their predecessors, throwing the company into a never-ending cycle of hiring and losing employees.
Recruitment campaigns might succeed in bringing new faces into our fold momentarily, but they cannot address our underlying pain points. Why would workers stay if our projects are disorganized, our overtime demands remain overwhelming, or we do not invest in their growth?
As construction companies, we need to find the middle ground between what the younger generation wants and what we can provide. We can proactively make our companies better places to be with improved health care benefits, more predictable schedules, increased pay, and better family-related benefits.
Unfortunately, today’s labor shortage is prompting leaders in our industry to adopt a reactive approach instead. Many contractors and managers spend much of their day fighting fires on insufficiently staffed projects. This leads to an entire industry that is overworked and overwhelmed. It’s not a good look when hopeful workers from the next generation sign on.
These upcoming workers seek careers that align with their values and offer a work-life balance. To attract and retain them, we need to invest in their long-term growth through upskilling and professional development. We also need to offer meaningful benefits, such as stronger healthcare options, better family leave policies, and consistent schedules.
The bottom line is that our time fighting fires would be far better spent on proactively building workplace cultures where employees feel supported and respected. Societal views about the construction industry will only change when we create meaning and pride in the work itself, and that starts with how we treat our people.
About Clark Lowe
Clark Lowe, President and CEO of O’Connor Company, is a seasoned leader with a distinguished background in the United States Marine Corps, where he honed his leadership skills and developed a passion for guiding others towards a shared vision. With a Bachelor’s in Business, an MBA with a Finance specialization, and certifications in Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Project Management from Villanova University, Clark brings a robust blend of academic and practical expertise to the team.
Clark’s extensive career in construction and business management is marked by launching successful divisions, generating significant revenue, and optimizing budgets. His deep knowledge of construction operations and a global network of industry contacts have facilitated major project builds across diverse sectors, including high-end retail, healthcare, and hospitality.
As an executive leader, Clark excels in complex problem-solving, utilizing innovative LEAN solutions to address challenges dynamically and decisively. His talent for reorganizing processes and people has consistently led to positive business turnarounds. Clark’s ability to communicate effectively and instill a motivational mindset in his team has made him a respected public speaker and former Professor of Graduate Business at Mercy College.
About O’Connor Company:
O’Connor Company is a commercial and industrial general contractor based in North Carolina. Since its founding in 1978, the company has completed more than 1,200 large-scale, non-residential construction projects across the U.S., including university facilities, athletic complexes, warehouses, and infrastructure builds.
Known for its disciplined approach to project delivery, O’Connor Company provides full-service construction management, general contracting, and consulting for clients in the commercial, industrial, and institutional sectors. Under the leadership of President and CEO Clark Lowe, the company emphasizes systems-driven operations, workforce development, and modern leadership practices, including hybrid workforce models in traditionally on-site industries.