U.S. builders and the subcontractors they depend on are struggling to hire fast enough to meet
rising demand for new homes.Builders would be starting work on more homes — and contributing more to the
economy — if they could fill more job openings.In the meantime, workers in the right locations with the
right skills are commanding higher pay.ConsiderRichard Vap, who owns a drywall installation company. The
resurgenthousing market has sent builders calling again. Vap would love to help —if he could hire enough
qualified people."There is a shortage ofmanpower," says Vap, owner of South Valley Drywall in
Littleton, Colo."We’re probably only hiring about 75 or 80 percent of what we actuallyneed."The
shortage of labor ranges across occupations — fromconstruction superintendents and purchasing agents to
painters, cabinetmakers and drywall installers. The National Association of Home Builderssays its members
have complained of too few framers, roofers, plumbersand carpenters. The shortage is most acute in areas
where demand for newhomes has recovered fastest, notably in Arizona, California, Texas,Colorado and
Florida.The problem results largely from an exodusof workers from the industry after the housing bubble
burst. Experiencedconstruction workers lost jobs. And many found new work — in commercialbuilding or in
booming and sometimes higher-paying industries likemining and natural gas drilling — and aren’t eager to
come back.Hispanicimmigrants, largely from Mexico, who had filled jobs during the boomwere among those who
left the industry and, in some cases, the UnitedStates.Dave Erickson, president of Greyhawk Homes in
Columbus,Ga., lost an employee who took a job this year in Texas. The formeremployee is now installing
fiber-optic cable and earning 30 percent morethan he did as a construction supervisor."I think he’s
frustrated with the cycle we went through in recent years," Erickson says.Ashortage of labor in a
well-paying industry might seem incongruous inan economy stuck with a still-high 7.5 percent unemployment
rate. But itreflects just how many former skilled construction workers have movedon to other fields.In 2006,
when the boom peaked, 3.4 millionpeople worked in homebuilding. By 2011, the figure had bottomed at about2
million. As of last month, about 2.1 million people were employed inresidential construction.Jobs in the
industry did rise 4.1percent in April from a year earlier, faster than overall U.S. jobgrowth. But they’d
have to surge 24 percent more to reach 2.6 million,their 2002 level — "the last time the market was
normal," says DavidCrowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders.Fornow, the
industry is building faster than it’s hiring. In February,builders began work on single-family homes at the
fastest pace in fiveyears. And in March, new home construction broke the 1 million mark forthe first time
since June 2008. Permits for future construction are alsonear a five-year high.In the 12 months that ended
in March,housing starts surged 47 percent. Yet over the same period, theindustry’s employment grew just 3.7
percent.Normally, a reboundin home construction helps propel an economy after a recession. But evenwith the
steady gains in housing starts, sales and prices since lastyear, the industry remains below levels
considered healthy.TheNational Association of Home Builders says nearly half its members whoresponded to a
survey in March said a scarcity of labor has led todelays in completing work. Fifteen percent have had to
turn down someprojects."I can’t find qualified people to fill the positionsthat I have open," says
Vishaal Gupta, president of Park Square Homes inOrlando, Fla. If not for the labor shortage, "I would
be able to buildmore homes this year and meet more demand than I can handle today."Gupta’scompany is
facing a side effect of the labor shortage: Demand forhigher pay from qualified workers. On some occasions,
he says he’s beenoutbid by rivals that need contractors for their own projects. Gupta’spreferred paint
contractor left for a rival that paid more. His newcabinet contractor is about 10 percent more expensive
than the one Guptaused before.The higher pay they’re handing out helps explain whybuilders have been
gradually raising prices on new homes. The medianprice was $247,000 in March, up about 12 percent from the
same month in2011, the Commerce Department says.The industry may have to lookmore aggressively for workers
at vocational schools, federally fundedprograms like Job Corps and elsewhere, says Crowe of the
homebuildersgroup."We’ll have to recruit more," he says.Vap, owner ofSouth Valley Drywall, rode
out the downturn after the housing crash inpart by relying on commercial construction projects. He cut
hisresidential construction staff from 244 in 2006 to 80 in 2009.Thisyear, Vap has hired 15 field employees
for residential construction andsays he needs to hire 35 more to do the work he foresees in 2013.Duringthe
2005-2006 housing boom years, Gupta had to bring in workers fromTexas because there weren’t enough employees
in Florida to keep up withconstruction. He doubts many of those veterans will return."A lotof people
who are from other states or from Mexico are not willing tocome back here as fast as they did last time
because of what theyexperienced," Gupta says.Between 2005 and 2010, 1.4 millionMexicans moved from the
United States to Mexico — roughly twice as manyas in the previous five-year period, according to the Pew
ResearchCenter. Though an estimated 11 million people remain in the UnitedStates illegally, the influx of
illegal immigration from Mexico hasessentially stopped, says Douglas Massey, a professor of sociology
atPrinceton University."The Mexican economy is doing quite well,with strong growth in manufacturing and
both skilled and unskilledservices," Massey notes. "If construction demand picks up, we may see
anuptick in Mexican immigration, but I think the boom years are likelyover."Crowe and other economists
predict that as demand for newhomes strengthens further, higher wages will woo back many laborers whotook up
other jobs during the downturn.The homebuildersassociation is pushing Congress to let more immigrants enter
the countrythrough a worker visa program. The association cites census datashowing that foreign-born workers
make up about 22 percent of the U.S.home construction work force. It estimates there are 116,000
unfilledjobs.Still, even if builders find more workers to hire, two otherfactors could hold back the
industry for a while: A tight supply ofbuilding materials and ready-to-build land. Surveys by the
NationalAssociation of Home Builders show that builders have grown concernedabout those obstacles.In part,
that’s why Crowe thinks employmentin single-family home building won’t return to its 2002 total until2016.
And he isn’t unhappy about that."In a perverse sort of way,the mild housing recovery is probably a good
thing," Crowe says. "Weneed to rebuild the infrastructure of the industry."Copyright 2013 The
Associated Press.