Gulf Coast contractors expect further hiring in 2017

An overwhelming number of construction firms in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties strongly believe they will hire additional workers in 2017, the result of an unprecedented real estate boom that is resulting in tens of thousands of new residences, restaurants, hotels and industrial projects.

A new index by Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida (ABC) found that contractors in the two Tampa Bay area counties ranked their optimism regarding hiring this year at 81.3 on a 100-point scale.

A ranking above 50 indicates positive feelings about growth or improvement, and conversely, anything below 50 connotes pessimism.

Throughout Florida, contractor optimism regarding hiring stood at 80.8 in the inaugural poll of the Florida Contractor Confidence Index, conducted among 78 firms in March, the group says.

In all, 88.23% of the firms surveyed say they will likely hire additional workers over the next six months. Of that, nearly 61% of respondents say they will increase staffing levels “slightly,” with 27.45% saying “significantly.”

“Florida has been among the most active construction markets in recent quarters,” says ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu, adding that contractors are likely to “hire more aggressively this year.”

The state added 13,000 new construction workers in the first two months of 2017 alone, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier this year.

Similarly, 88.24% of those who responded say they anticipate their sales to increase for 2017. Of those, 45.10% say they expect sales will rise “significantly.”

But while the index reflects continued optimism, a majority of firms say they anticipate more difficulty in finding new workers, especially skilled labor.

“They also anticipate struggling mightily with a dearth of worker availability,” Basu says.

In all, 84.31% of those surveyed in the ABC poll say they will have a harder time finding workers. Some 37.25% of those polled say it will be “significantly more difficult,” and 47.06% say it will be “slightly more difficult.”

To counter that trend, 80.4% of ABC members surveyed say they are “investing more in workforce development.”