Once upon a time, Grandpa came home from the war with a hammer and a work ethic, built his house, and helped build our nation. Today, though, the U.S. construction industry is not prepared to onshore construction of massive manufacturing facilities and rebuild our energy sector. That is not a close call, and there is no quick fix. The needed workers are not just hard to find — they no longer exist.
Over 20 years ago I stared at concept drawings and maps for a massive California passenger rail project. Those in the front of the room explained the need, cost, and schedule for the no-brainer endeavor. On paper, it was impressive.
Leaving the meeting, I said to the other attendees on the elevator, “That will never get built.” The responses were “Nope,” “No way,” and “Not in my lifetime, anyhow.” We were all construction lawyers in our 20s and 30s and knew it was delusional to think the project would ever exist in the real world. We are now a generation older. There is no rail line. Skilled labor is scarcer. We are now concerned about other marquee U.S. construction projects.
The construction industry’s productivity gains over the past three decades have badly lagged others that have proven more able to absorb innovation and replace humans. A machine can cut a straight line faster than ever to make widgets on a production line, but it cannot hang off the side of a building to erect steel. Manual labor and
