The construction industry will need to add an estimated 439,000 new workers this year to meet growing demand, according to a new model from Associated Builders and Contractors. In 2026, the industry will require 499,000 additional workers as spending increases with expected lower interest rates.
Failure to meet the employment levels would accelerate industry wide labor cost escalation, exacerbating already high construction costs and reducing the volume of financially feasible work. Average hourly earnings throughout the industry are up 4.4% over the past 12 months, according to ABC Economist Anirban Basu. The hourly earnings have outpaced earnings growth across all sectors.
ABC’s model uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Construction put in place survey and the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics to link inflation-adjusted construction spending growth with payroll employment. It translates expected increases in construction spending into demand for workers at a rate of roughly 3,550 jobs per additional billion dollars.
The model also factors current job openings, unemployment, projected retirements, and industry exits.
In Louisiana, work has begun on the $10 billion Meta artificial intelligence data center in Richland Parish. Meta projects that more than 5,000 construction workers will help build the four million-square-foot data center at the peak of construction.
Hut 8, a Miami-based Bitcoin miner, plans to build an AI data center in West Feliciana Parish, according to parish officials. The project’s first phase will see two 450,000-square-foot facilities constructed by the end of 2025 and the second phase will see additional facilities constructed by the end of 2026.
The project is expected to create hundreds of direct new jobs and support between 1,500 and 2,000 construction jobs during peak construction.
Some other local construction projects include the 61 North Logistics Center, the Belle of Baton Rouge’s move to land and hotel renovation and the Illera Holistic Healthcare expansion.
