Go back five years ago, and there’s no doubt you’ve seen the image of the man in the hard hat with his fellow buddies whistling at the hot lady walking down the straight. It’s sort of an ’80s thing that lasted all the way straight to 2006. That’s because the construction industry was doing just fine–better than fine, in fact. Lots of men made a good living on the architecture and construction of buildings.
That’s not the case anymore. Sadly enough, the downward spiral of the construction industry has been spelled out for you by the Associated Builders and Contractors: an unemployment rate of 20.7%. Believe it or not, that number’s actually larger thanks to illegal immigration with the amount of undocumented workers already gone, not to mention the real U.S. citizens working in the construction industry leaving the business as well due to hard times.
This ties in closely with the stagnant real estate economy, to be honest. Permits are a lot harder to obtain, not to mention the resources to build. Unemployment as a whole affects the whole gamut of the workforce. If structures can’t be built, architects can’t make money. If architects can’t make money, they can’t buy food for their families. If they can’t buy food for their families, the grocery stores lose out. If grocery stores lose out, cashiers and clerks get a drop in hourly wage, maybe even enough to get them to quit. See? It’s a downward spiral.
Unfortunately, the only way out of the slump is to encourage men–or women, for that matter–to take up the hammer or wrench and start with the building. If you could only imagine the splendor and joy of being so high up like that, erecting some of the most amazing scrapers and structures known to man…. Unless you’re afraid of heights!