Construction
 Industry
Overview
Houses, apartments, factories, offices, schools, roads, and bridges are
only some of the products of the construction industry. This industry's
activities include the building of new structures as well as additions
and modifications to existing ones. The industry also includes
maintenance, repair, and improvements on these structures.
Industry
Organization
The construction
industry is divided into three major segments. The construction of
buildings segment includes contractors, usually called general
contractors, who build residential, industrial, commercial, and other
buildings. Heavy and civil engineering construction contractors build
sewers, roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, and other projects related to
our Nation’s infrastructure. Specialty trade contractors perform
specialized activities related to all types of construction such as
carpentry, painting, plumbing, and electrical work.
Construction usually
is done or coordinated by general contractors, who specialize in one
type of construction such as residential or commercial building. They
take full responsibility for the complete job, except for specified
portions of the work that may be omitted from the general contract.
Although general contractors may do a portion of the work with their own
crews, they often subcontract most of the work to heavy construction or
specialty trade contractors.
Specialty trade
contractors usually do the work of only one trade, such as painting,
carpentry, or electrical work, or of two or more closely related trades,
such as plumbing and heating. Beyond fitting their work to that of the
other trades, specialty trade contractors have no responsibility for the
structure as a whole. They obtain orders for their work from general
contractors, architects, or property owners. Repair work is almost
always done on direct order from owners, occupants, architects, or
rental agents.
Recent
Developments
The
construction industry has been strongly affected by the credit crisis
and recession that began in December 2007. Housing prices fell and
foreclosures of homes rose sharply, particularly in overbuilt areas of
the country. New housing construction, while still ongoing, dropped
significantly. The recession is expected to impact other types of
construction as well. Retailers are refraining from building new stores
and State and local governments are reducing spending. However, as
energy costs have risen, some companies are finding it necessary to
build or renovate buildings that are not energy efficient. "Green
construction" is an area that is increasingly popular and involves
making buildings as environmentally friendly and energy efficient as
possible by using more recyclable and earth-friendly products.
Employment
Construction,
with 7.2 million wage and salary jobs and 1.8 million self-employed and
unpaid family workers, is one of the nation's largest industries. About
64 percent of wage and salary jobs in construction were in the specialty
trade contractors sector, primarily plumbing, heating, and
air-conditioning; electrical; and masonry. Around 23 percent of jobs
were in residential and nonresidential building construction. The rest
were in heavy and civil engineering construction.
Employment
in this industry is distributed geographically in much the same way as
the Nation's population. There were about 884,300 construction
establishments in the United States in 2008: 269,700 were building
construction contractors; 57,600 were heavy and civil engineering
construction or highway contractors; and 557,000 were specialty trade
contractors. Most of these establishments tend to be small; 68 percent
employed fewer than 5 workers. About 12 percent of workers are employed
by these very small contractors.
Working
Environment
Most employees in this industry work full time, and many work over 40
hours a week. The working environment for civil engineers working in the
field of construction may vary between a typical office setting, and
spending time on building sites planning or overseeing aspects of
construction.
STEM Degree
Paths into this Industry
There are many career paths into every industry...within the Career
Cornerstone Center we focus on describing the STEM and Medicine (STEM)
career paths that may be prevalent in a given industry. Construction
offers a great variety of career opportunities. This website focuses
primarily on career paths for those with degrees in science,
engineering, mathematics, computing, technology, and medicine, which
represent a small portion of the many people involved in
construction.
Industry
Forecast
The
number of wage and salary jobs in the construction industry is expected
to grow 19 percent through the year 2018, compared with the 11 percent
projected for all industries combined. Employment in this industry
depends primarily on the level of new construction as well as renovation
activity on older buildings, which is expected to increase modestly over
the coming decade.
Residential
construction is expected to grow moderately over the decade to meet the
needs of a growing population. Particularly, as the oldest children of
the baby boomers reach their peak house-buying years in the coming
decade, demand for housing by them is expected to grow to meet their
needs. Demand by an expanding older population for senior housing and
healthcare residences will lead to growth in these areas. The renovation
and expansion of older homes should prove relatively constant over the
projection period.
Employment is expected
to grow in the nonresidential construction sector over the decade as
well. Replacement of many industrial plants has been delayed for years,
and a large number of structures will have to be replaced or remodeled.
There will also be a need for all types of medical treatment facilities
to meet the demands of the growing elderly population. Construction of
schools will continue to be needed, especially in the South and West,
where the population is growing the fastest. However, the stress on many
State and local governments’ budgets may be such that new construction
for schools will be postponed for several years until the economy
recovers.
Employment in heavy
and civil engineering construction is projected to increase due to
growth in new highway, bridge, and street construction, as well as in
maintenance and repairs to prevent further deterioration of the Nation's
existing highways and bridges. Voters and legislators in most States and
localities continue to approve spending on road construction, which will
create jobs over the next decade. Another area of expected growth is in
power line and related construction. Even with increased conservation
and more efficient appliances, there is an increasing demand for power.
Increase demand for workers will likely result from new power plant
construction and connecting these new facilities to the current power
grids.
The largest number of
new jobs is expected to be created in specialty trades contracting
because it is the largest segment of the industry and because it is
expected to grow about as fast as the rest of the construction industry.
The number of jobs will grow as demand increases for subcontractors in
new building and heavy construction, and as more workers are needed to
repair and remodel existing homes, which specialty trade contractors are
more likely to perform. Home improvement and repair construction is
expected to continue even as new home construction slows. Remodeling
should provide many new jobs because of a growing stock of old
residential and nonresidential buildings. Many older, smaller homes will
be remodeled to appeal to more affluent buyers interested in more space
and amenities. Remodeling tends to be more labor-intensive than new
construction. In addition, the construction industry, as well as all
types of businesses and institutions, is increasingly contracting out
the services of specialty trades workers instead of keeping these
workers on their own payrolls.
Despite 19 percent
overall employment growth of the construction industry, construction
trades growth is expected to vary. For example, employment of rail-track
laying and maintenance equipment operators; first line supervisors of
construction trades; and pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and
steamfitters is projected to grow faster than the industry average
because their specialized services will be in greater demand. On the
other hand, employment of structural iron and steel workers is expected
to grow more slowly than the construction industry as a whole as workers
become more productive. Nonetheless, nearly all construction trades are
projected to experience some growth. Only helpers of roofers and of
painters, paperhangers, plasterers and stucco masons are expected to
experience a decline.
Employment of
construction managers is expected to grow as a result of the increasing
complexity of construction work that needs to be managed, including the
need to deal with the proliferation of laws dealing with building
construction, worker safety, and environmental issues.
Related
Degree Fields
Professional
Associations/Other Resources
Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the US Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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