Construction industry must attract workers in 2026

The construction industry needs to attract an estimated 349,000 net new workers in 2026 to meet demand for construction services, according to a proprietary model developed and released by Washington-based Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). 

“If current consensus forecasts hold true, the construction industry will need to bring in 349,000 new workers in 2026 just to keep the supply and demand for labor in equilibrium,” ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu says. “Failing to do so will worsen labor shortages, especially in certain occupations and regions, placing further upward pressure on labor costs.”  

In 2027, ABC says the industry will need to bring in 456,000 new workers to meet demand as construction spending growth is poised to resume for the first time in years. 

ABC’s proprietary model uses the historical relationship between inflation-adjusted construction spending growth, sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Construction Put in Place survey, and payroll construction employment, sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, to convert anticipated increases in construction outlays into additional demand for construction workers at a rate of approximately 3,450 jobs per $1 billion in additional construction spending. 

“ABC’s 2026 workforce shortage analysis shows a series of macrodynamics at play in the industry,” ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman says. “These include an aging and retiring workforce, immigration enforcement, high materials prices, tariffs, office vacancies and rapidly evolving technologies and innovation. Despite these variables, the analysis shows the construction industry still faces an urgent need for talent to build and rebuild America’s infrastructure.” 

This model also embeds the current level of job openings, industry unemployment and projected industry retirements into its computations. 

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“The industry needs to attract fewer workers than in recent years, a decline that can be traced to extremely modest spending growth forecasts for 2026 and 2027,” Basu says. “Given current assumptions regarding prospective industry growth, a majority of new worker demand in 2026 will be attributable to retirement rather than increased demand for construction services, despite the ongoing boom in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure buildout.” 

Basu adds that the industry will need even more workers than the model predicts, should current spending projections prove overly conservative. He says it's important to also note that nonresidential specialty trade contracts have added 95,000 jobs since August 2024, according to an ABC analysis of BLS employment data, which shows certain sectors of nonresidential construction hiring are going strong. 

“Even if construction spending fails to exceed expectations this year and next, contractors will continue to struggle to fill open positions, especially in certain occupations and regions,” he says. 

The effects of immigration policy represent another potential wildcard for the industry’s labor force dynamics. While the extent to which undocumented workers have exited the workforce remains unclear, Basu says data regarding border encounters indicate that the flow of undocumented workers into the country fell in 2025 while voluntary deportations accelerated. 

“The construction industry does not have to fall off the workforce shortage cliff,” Bellaman says. “To avoid this outcome and shore up the talent pipeline, now is the time for action—not complacency—to reaffirm that the construction industry offers careers of choice in today's complex job market.”