For years, economic boosters have claimed that "1,000 people per day" move to the Sunshine State. Last year, Florida lived up to that claim and then some, drawing over 1,140 residents a day to become the nation's fastest-growing state for the first time since 1957.
That growth has translated into a greater need for new homes, apartments, restaurants, stores, hospitals and public works projects. And that greater need is translating into a growing headache: Florida's construction industry is reeling from a severe labor shortage that has no end in sight, builders and economists say.
"Just because you see a lot of construction projects going up, it doesn't mean they don't have a labor shortage problem. I guarantee you that they do," said Anthony Viscomi, co-owner of Viscomi Construction in Ormond Beach.
Indeed. According to those same builders and economists, Florida's long-running construction industry labor shortage is not only bad, but likely to get worse in coming years.
Ron Hetrick, a senior economist with national analytics firm, Lightcast, has been tracking the labor market since the early 1990s when he worked for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. He said the beginnings of the construction industry labor shortage can be traced back to the end of the Great Recession in 2009. Even though the economy was starting to recover, many of the workers laid off during the downturn wound up choosing to not...
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