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National contractors came out with a recent survey that most construction companies are having a hard time finding craft workers and called on the federal government to invest in workforce development to bridge the gap.

Currently, contractors across the country are looking for more workers and are having difficulty filling job openings, according to a by the Associated General Contractors of America and human resources company Arcoro.

The association reported that 94 percent of respondents to a recent survey said they have openings for craft workers and 85 percent have openings for salaried workers.

Around a third of contractors working in the building construction, highway, federal and heavy and utility infrastructure subsectors reported fallen headcounts in the past year. AGC officials pointed to federal education, training and immigration policies as the culprit for shortages, which hindered the country’s ability to build infrastructure and construction programs.

鈥淭he most likely path to addressing construction workforce shortages is for the federal government to adopt better workforce policies,鈥� said Jeff Shoaf, the chief executive officer of AGC, in a virtual news conference. 鈥淔ederal officials need to support, instead of undermine, our national infrastructure and economic development policies,鈥� he added.

Construction labor market mixed across the West

Contractors in the west reported slightly less trouble filling jobs than the nation as a whole. Of respondents, 52 percent reported project delays due to worker shortages. More than half 鈥� 51 percent 鈥� said they had grown their workforce in the past 12 months. An additional 35 percent reported fewer employees, and 14 percent reported no change.

Looking ahead, 70 percent of contractors said they expected to add headcount, 21 percent expected no change and 9 percent were looking to reduce their firm’s headcount.

Contractors reported the most trouble filling jobs for estimators (80 percent), superintendents (79 percent) and project managers/supervisors (78 percent).

AGC Oregon-Columbia Chapter officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The AGC-Arcoro survey does not break out separate results for Oregon. But in Washington, contractors were more likely to say they have reduced headcount (40 percent), with only 36 percent adding headcount and 24 percent seeing no change.

A lower number than in the nation as a whole 鈥� only 59 percent 鈥� expected to add headcount in Washington, while 31 percent expected no change and 10 percent looked to reduce headcount.

91视频 construction reporter Ethan Duran also contributed to this report.