Home-building sector faces labor shortages, other problems

“Yes, supply chain is still an issue, but bigger than that is labor,” says Tracy Page, executive officer of the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of the Mohawk Valley. “This is a nationwide problem, not just local.”

Simply put, there are not enough new workers coming in to replace the aging workforce, she says.

Mary Thompson, executive officer of the Home Builders & Remodelers of Central New York, agrees. The average age of a skilled carpenter is 58 and it is recommended that new carpenters work with a skilled carpenter for 10 years to learn.

“There’s a gap there that we as a society need to work to fill,” Thompson says. To make up for the labor shortage, some supply companies have started providing do-it-yourself training and equipment rentals to consumers, she adds. So a flooring retailer can sell the supplies to customers and provide the training and equipment needed for them to do the work themselves.

Both organizations are constantly reaching out to schools from middle school to colleges to talk up careers in the trades.

Those workers are even more needed now with semiconductor companies Wolfspeed, already open in Marcy, and Micron Technology, Inc. coming to the Syracuse area. Combined, the two plants will employ 10,000 or more people, with four times as many indirect supporting jobs to boot.

“We are going to need housing of all types,” Thompson says, starting right from when construction workers begin the Micron project.

Interest rates remain a concern, likely pushing more people toward remodeling rather than building a new home, both leaders say.

More troubling than interest rates, however, is climate-oriented legislation either already in place or pending that could ruffle the industry.

The All-Electric Building Act, already passed by the state Senate, could require all new construction projects to be fully electrified. That means no fossil-fuel appliances or features allowed.

“I don’t think a lot of people realize this is out there,” Page says. If passed as written, the legislation could take effect as early as the end of this year.

It falls under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which sets ambitious climate goals for the state to achieve by 2050, Thompson says. 

Without fossil fuels to heat, buildings would have to rely on alternatives like electric heat pumps, which still pose challenges in the area’s cooler climate. While originally focusing on new construction, the legislation would eventually include remodeling projects as well, meaning if your old gas stove broke, you’d be forced to replace it with an electric one, Page notes.

“If it passes, it’s going to be huge,” she says. Both associations continue to track the issue.