Impact of labour shortage on construction tech stack and best ways to overcome it

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Construction is one of the key industries in the world that largely contributes to the global economy. Technology and digital transformation in the construction industry are just in the infancy stage, and it has plenty of room for innovation. Pandemic has allowed innovation as stakeholders realized the importance of observing the work status and working remotely. Many construction workers were unable to attend the work on sites and realized they had less visibility of the things that happen on the job site. Then digitalization became a necessity; many field workers across segments are open to exploring digital platforms and delivering good returns on the investment for several projects.

Pandemic is not the only challenge to the construction industry, but also the industry is severely affected by the increasing cost of raw materials and labor shortages. The construction industry is struggling to find ways to bridge these gaps. Technology usage is one solution to counterbalance the labor shortage as software tools can increase work efficiency, transparency, and accountability. Robotics technology is used to automate dangerous and repetitive tasks such as painting exterior walls of high-rise buildings and heavy lifting. Unlike the other industries, remote work is still a novel idea in the construction industry. Experts believe that providing certain jobs to remote talent increases the efficiency and reachability of broader talent groups.

Whether commercial construction or residential building, innovation and development always lie in automation, data collection, and analysis. Automation is the best solution for the labor shortage. For instance,

• Diamond Age, a US-based company, raised US$ 50 Million in funding for home construction robots in March 2022. Its Robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) offers 3D printing, mechatronics, and robotics combined to address the labor shortage issue and reduce construction cycle times to 30 days from nine months.
• Cutting-edge robotics can be used in project layouts. Next-generation robotic companies build robots that can automatically print out the precise models on the project floor itself. These are more accurate and faster than human-drawn layouts.

The construction industry is expected to adopt more technological solutions in five to ten years. the Shortly, there will be more innovations in new construction materials, green buildings, modular construction, automation, and robotics that can create a sustainable and safe environment and helps in addressing labor shortage. Construction companies are also actively developing new technologies to speed up the digital transformation. They are planning to invest in software that is helpful for project management, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and client relationship management (CRM). Companies are also involved in improving the technologies such as big data, 3D printing, the internet of things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which can be used for certain jobs in the construction industry.

Government and legislation will also have a significant role in modernizing the construction industry and reducing its environmental impact. For example, 

• The Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act of the US, worth around US$1.2 trillion, has been passed this year and includes US$ 100 Million for digital construction technologies alone.

Government can push forward the massive backlog of infrastructure projects, resulting in huge investments. Public construction and infrastructure development projects must provide Building information modeling (BIM), a digital representation of functional characteristics of places by software tools & technologies. Stringent regulations need to be implemented by government and legislative authorities to reduce the carbon footprint and environmental impact.

To know more and gain a deeper understanding of the United States construction market, click here.