Construction Worker Shortage: Preparing for 2026

What lessons can we learn from 2025, as it relates to the construction worker shortage? And how can we use this information to prepare for 2026? These are the questions we are going to answer in today’s blog.

The labor challenges facing construction are well documented and as we close out 2025, they remain front and center. Across the United States, demand for labor continues to outpace supply in nearly every region and trade.

According to estimates from ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors) earlier this year, the construction industry needs hundreds of thousands of new workers just to keep pace with projected demand, even before factoring in an uptick in recovery work from wildfires, hurricanes, and other recent disasters.

The data shows the construction industry needs 439,000 new workers on top of the normal pace of hiring in 2025, and the construction industry is additionally projected to need ...