National Center for Construction Education & Research
Our mission at NCCER is to inform and keep you up-to-date on all things industry. To do this, we’ve provided video research and supporting material below.
The U.S. construction industry employs 7,040,788 people across 745,205 companies. While small firms represent most of the construction companies overall, roughly 4.3 million employees, are employed by construction firms with between 10 and 249 total employees.
Download the fact sheet below to learn more.
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The construction craft workforce is aging, with the average age in 2020 being 42.9 years. If the current aging rate continues, in 2030, the average age of the workforce will be greater than 46 years.
Watch the video below to learn more and download the accompanying statistical information.
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up 11% of employees in the overall U.S. construction industry. This percentage includes women who work in engineering, legal, insurance, and administrative work. However, when focusing on the number of women who work specifically in the construction trades, this number drops to 4%.
Since 1972, the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago has collected data on the attitudes, behaviors and attributes of the American public through the longitudinal General Social Survey (GSS). Across four separate economic cycles between 1974-2014, construction workers reported higher levels of job satisfaction than all other industries.
The downloadable fact sheet details the approximate time it takes to become a journeyman. These durations show the importance of recruiting and training new workers now to address the overall aging workforce. Note that these are approximate durations, and may differ by state, job experience, training program, and many other factors.
The term "multiskilling" refers to a craft professional receiving education in more than one specific craft. The data presented in the downloadable fact sheet below shows the primary reason for multiskilling among craft professionals as well as the growth in multiskilling among NCCER test-takers who passed a written certification exam outside of their primary skills.
Download the fact sheet below and watch the videos to learn more.
Construction supervision is a key factor in project success. Construction supervisors carry a heavy load in both responsibility and expectations. A survey of construction supervisors revealed a typical day's allocation of time across five general categories. The results also revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in supervisor time allocation across experience level, project management competency or technology competency.
We’re always happy to discuss our findings with you. Contact Tim Taylor, NCCER Director of Research, at ttaylor@nccer.org with any questions.