Equipment World recently shared an article in which economic experts from AGC, ABC and Dodge Data & Analytics discuss how they see currently see things and what they believe the financial future of our industry will be. A few key discussion points in the article are:
Private owners are a bit nervous which will result in reduced work availability and contractor backlog towards the end of this year with a potential recovery beginning in 2021.
The downturn will occur in three phases where work slows down or gets shut down in phase 1, owners try to renegotiate pricing in phase 2 and some contractors may be forced to shut down in phase 3.
Public work is generally strong right now and work on lot of projects will continue but as reduced tax revenue from reduced consumer spending hits, maintenance will continue while growth stalls.
While the COVID-19 impact was sudden, industry recovery will be more gradual.
Skilled construction pros that end up unemployed may leave the industry entirely which will make construction company competition for skilled labor and management more fierce on the rebound.
Even with a recovery starting in 2021, most sectors won't see big recovery until later in the year.
So what does this mean? It means things are probably going to get worse for a while longer before they get better. When things do get better, growth small or slow and steady at first with most builders not seeing relief until the end of 2021. During this time, working for and employing the right people will be even more important because other industries that may rebound more quickly could snag top notch construction pros looking for a more regular pay check.
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