CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. — The Associated Builders and Contractors group states there is a massive demand for construction workers across the country.

What You Need To Know

  • Construction jobs across the U.S. are in high demand     

  • According to the Associated Builders and Contractors, in 2024, the industry needs to fill 501,000 jobs to meet the current demand

  • In response to ongoing shortages, local construction companies have raised wages and have gone to student workshops to entice younger people to join the career field

According to its data, the industry needs to bring over half a million employees to meet the current demand out there.

Even in the mud and the dirt, there are worse places to work than across the street from Clearwater Beach — at least that’s how Greg Nichols sees it.

“I work in coal mines around Pittsburgh and in the middle of nowhere, you know. And I tell these guys, you have no idea how fortunate you are,” said Nichols, the president of G.A. Nichols Company.

G.A. Nichols is a construction business that has a hand in nearly a dozen construction jobs in the Tampa Bay area, including at Clearwater Beach to build a new hotel.

“At one point, two years ago,” Nichols said. “We had five high rises going in downtown St. Pete, just ourselves.”

These are big jobs and right now Nichols has about 50 workers out at these sites on his payroll.

But, he says, even that is not enough to meet the current demand.

“We get calls every day that we have to turn down,” said Nichols.

Because he says there are not enough qualified prospects out there to fill the needed positions.

“I don’t know if 10 million people got sucked up by aliens or what, but, you know, they’re just not there,” said Nichols.

Nichols says it has been a problem for the last few years. So much so that he and his competitors have drastically raised wages to try to bring in talent.

For example, a job that paid $20 an hour now pays $40.

“I’ve bought, like, homes, and I bought trailers to rent to my employees just to keep them on the payroll, to keep them around,” Nichols said.

Still, he says workers are either nonexistent or getting poached by other companies.

That is why Nichols is getting creative.

Along with higher wages, he is actually going to local community colleges, like St. Pete College, and showcasing his business at student workshops.

He is showing off equipment and machinery to the students, hoping that it might bring some into his career field.

“You have to start somewhere,” Nichols said. “So, get them when they’re young and try to get them interested in the field because it doesn’t happen overnight, and it takes years.”

The Associated Builders and Contractors organization states demand in construction will not go away anytime soon.

The industry needs to add more than 500,000 jobs to meet the current demand this year and another 454,000 in 2025.

It’s going to take time, but Nichols is determined to see it through so he can get projects like this completed with as many workers as he can find for his crew.