The Builders, Burns & McDonnell Partnership Addresses Construction Labor Shortage

Posted January 4, 2024

The Kansas City metro is gaining development traction with more construction projects entering the pipeline and a new partnership is hoping to answer a concern in the industry, the labor shortage.

On Wednesday, Tim Cowden, CEO of the Kansas City Area Development Council, moderated a discussion with Leslie Duke, CEO of Burns & McDonnell, and Lance Claiborne, president of The Builders, to address the need for more workers who will build the growing number of projects.

“16,000 jobs are created by entrepreneurs every year in Kansas City,” Cowden said.

Overall employment of construction laborers and helpers is estimated to increase by 4 percent from 2022 to 2032, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Furthermore, an average of 151,400 openings for construction laborers and helpers are projected each year for the next decade.

Duke, who began her new role as CEO on Jan. 1, 2024, said a contributing factor in the dwindling construction workforce is the fact that a significant portion is aging out and will soon enter retirement.

Leslie Duke, CEO of Burns & McDonnell.

“We see a lot of things happening around the electrification around America which will take an enormous amount of investment and our workforce is aging out,” she said. “We got to bring the new fresh blood in and ask them to engage in a meaningful way about building the future of this country.”

While workers who are aging out of their construction profession is an issue on the horizon, it is still only one piece of the labor shortage puzzle, Duke said.

“The volume and the amount of investment is really the biggest problem with scale and volume of work that is being met right now is just astronomical. We have got to get a workforce established quickly and it is difficult because of the complexities with new technologies and best practices that the new professionals will need to be properly trained in.”

Claiborne hopes to fuel a desire for construction jobs within families as new generations start looking for jobs in other industries.

“The question is how do we build a very intentional pipeline that incorporates access to everybody and not just the individuals who are already in construction,” he said. “So let’s open the doors to allow people in this space to truly have access to what construction can offer.”

Lance Claiborne, president of The Builders.

The Builders, a local chapter of the Associated General Contractors, partnered with Burns & McDonnell to open the Career Development & Exploration Center (CDEC) in October.

“It is a reflection of our need in the Kansas City marketplace right now,” Cowden said.

The facility, located in North Kansas City, is a 3,300-square-foot training center with the goal of training the next generation of construction workers, with additional future training modules planned for 2024.

“This facility is just phase one of our partnership and we are already in discussion about what they [The Builders] need,” Duke said. “The ability to bring people into a physical location with assets inside that give those people hands-on experience learning s is so advantageous for us and the industry.”