LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan’s skilled labor workforce appears to be losing steam quickly as the state invests more and more into infrastructure and roads, but not the people building them.
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The Michigan Department of Labor and Employment has data indicating a large professional trades shortage exists in the state and will likely persist through 2026, as roughly 47,000 job openings appear annually.
Part of the concern regarding the shortage stems from the jobless rates in Metro Detroit and statewide. According to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget, a jobless rate in the region including Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Lapeer, Livingston, and St. Clair counties was up 3.9% from earlier in the year, just a hair below the state’s unemployment rate of 4.3%. The current unemployment rate is just a fraction below the state’s unemployment rate from July 2022, at 4.5%.
The need for workers to improve the state’s infrastructure “has never been bigger than it is now,” said Lance Bioniemi, Vice President of government affairs for the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, representing more than 500 businesses involving infrastructure in the state.
“As you increase investments, and as you increase funding, which in our state we have to do, as our roads and bridges are going to continue to crumble…you also have to increase the workforce as well,” he said according to the Detroit News.
Others, such as Tom Lutz, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights expressed some optimism as the demographics of some labor workforces is changing.
“Our fastest growing segment is probably women in construction, and although we don’t have the numbers that we would like to have, it’s probably the fastest growing because it started with the fewest when we started pursuing that,” he said to the Detroit News. “Where women maybe once thought this wasn’t a place for them, we’re trying to show them that it is. They can be successful here, and I think that’s true for different communities … men and women of color. The building trades are notoriously White males, from 28 to 55.”
A recent study by the American Society of Employers in Troy (ASE), Michigan’s largest employer association, released findings indicating that despite a lower unemployment rate, “noticeable inflationary trends, and sluggish labor participation resulted in wage growth.”
“Nearly 40 percent of organizations have adjusted their salary budgets to account for inflation, resulting in average salary budgets of almost 4 percent in 2023 as a percentage of total payroll,” according to the ASE study. “Salary budgets refer to those funds allocated and used to determine salary increases for their employees.”
Mary E. Corrado, CEO of ASE acknowledged the present is marked by “challenging times for employers given the lack of available talent,” according to DBusiness Daily News.
“This year’s findings should serve as a clear catalyst for businesses to thoroughly evaluate their compensation practices and underscore the critical importance of implementing a robust total rewards program,” said Corrado.
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