Construction Is Essential Workforce Campaign

The coronavirus and related economic lock downs has led to significant changes in the labor market compared to pre-pandemic times. The construction industry, for example, cut nearly 1 million people from its payrolls between March and April 2020, and only hired back about 40 percent of those workers in May and June 2020. Meanwhile, over 30-million Americans have lost their jobs during the past quarter. The new labor dynamic has created a unique opportunity for the industry to attract a significant portion of the newly unemployed into high-paying construction careers.

With financing from the Construction Advocacy Fund, AGC of America is in the midst of launching a nationwide construction recruitment campaign called “Construction is Essential.” The message “Construction Is Essential” is designed to address two key facts. First, that the work construction professionals of all levels perform is essential to our economic prosperity, quality of life, and security from man-made and natural threats. And second, as AGC saw in most parts of the country during the Spring 2020 lockdowns, construction is considered an essential sector of the economy and construction careers are more likely to be protected from future economic shutdowns then current ones. It is also a way to remind people that construction played an essential role during the pandemic maintaining infrastructure, expanding healthcare facilities, and keeping our economy running.

As part of that effort, the association is working with a variety of chapters to launch targeted digital advertising campaigns that are designed to identify people who will consider construction careers and direct them to local construction recruiting sites. The campaign is launching advertising efforts in early March in San Antonio and Indiana and working with a range of other chapters to launch additional efforts in other parts of the country.