Report: Construction Workforce Needs Assessment

Project overview:

I led our team to support client and partner, Valley Vision, a civic leadership organization in Sacramento, on a multi-stakeholder research and engagement effort, part of the Next Economy regional economic development and cluster planning.

We worked with industry and other community partners to identify the report scope and challenges they were facing.

The research and process supported capacity building to connect industry partners to regional workforce education and training providers. I designed the research plan and project scope to support the capacity building, but also to establish a baseline for data analysis that could be reproduced to measure performance outcome from interventions.

I recruited and managed a team of technical consultants to execute the research plan, performed data analysis, assembled report sections, and wrote the report. I also coordinated copy editing and graphic design.

To begin the research, we identified key informants and I conducted 20 executive interviews with industry and other stakeholders to identify opportunities and challenges for the industry’s workforce.

I presented the findings at a public event attended by more than 100 industry, education, and other regional leaders in the beginning of 2018.

I include more information about the analysis, process, and press below.

Market Indicators

We analyzed several market indicators from public and private sources of data including the Bureau of Economic Analysis , U.S. Census, regional transportation organization, and Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB).

In the analysis displayed here, we discovered that housing demand outpaced supply coming out of the recession. Permit data indicated a generally tepid production of residential units in the Sacramento region after 2012. We used population data as a proxy to estimate housing demand, and compared it to the permits.

Industry Employment

We used Michael Porter’s definitions to analyze construction cluster employment activity.

The analysis revealed brights spots in some industries. Most locally-serving industries had been hard hit by the recession. Employment numbers remained well below pre-recession levels in most cases.

Some industries associated with large infrastructure and water conveyances displayed comparative advantage and resiliency. Employment data showed no employment decline and high concentrations of jobs compared to the San Francisco Bay Area region, and the state.

Education and Training Assets

We identified training and education assets in the region, including community college, university, and union apprenticeships.

We mapped regional credentials according to related occupational areas, training providers, and typical length of time to award completion.

The occupational mapping served as a basis to estimate potential occupational gaps.

Occupational Gap

The research team estimated a pipeline of incoming labor supply using awards and student data from Division of Apprenticeship Standards and Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS) and other sources.

We compared the pipeline supply to estimated annual openings in related occupations.

The method has flaws, but is widely used in applied research.

Our headline finding showed a labor shortage of more than 7,000 workers in the Sacramento region. Interview data universally substantiated the data finding.