What’s the outlook in the coming election year? Positive? Negative? AGC’s chief economist and a host of other industry professionals are choosing from both columns of the menu.
Overall, says Ken Simonson, chief economist for AGC of America, the industry forecast in the coming year is positive.
This is the industry temperature, as results of the association’s annual business outlook survey are being examined. But industry pros we spoke with feel similarly, even if their optimism is tempered by a bit of cautiousness.
Here are our top 5 take-aways from the article:
- Category Growth: “Developer-financed categories such as multifamily, office and warehouse construction look like they will be contracting in 2024. But I think those negatives are going to be outweighed by a gradual pickup in single-family construction and continued strength in data centers and manufacturing plants. I also think there are some very good prospects for a variety of infrastructure and power/renewable energy categories, though the timing is uncertain.”
- Labor Market: “Finding qualified workers is harder than it was before the pandemic. On one hand, many more jobs can now be done remotely or on a hybrid basis with flexible hours, which is still not possible for on-site construction jobs. But also, the pay structure has changed.”
- Regulation: “The roster of new regulations has varying deadlines: 2026, 2030, 2040 – contractors are still making sense of it all. In the commercial market, people are thinking, ‘What do we have to change in the design for new construction? What do we have to do to get existing buildings up to speed?’”
- Growth Vertical: “But the data center work just continues to explode.”
- Partnerships: “It’s an interesting time because there are several large GCs that could probably do some of those megaprojects alone but the number of collaborations that are happening in the industry is just unprecedented.”
Click here to read the full article in Constructor, including the states with forecasted high-growth potential.
