The Truth About Construction Jobs

I will start by saying that I don't mind the fact that the president wants to throw a lot of money at new construction around the country.  My family's business would benefit from that move.  However, it is not a cure for the unemployment problem in America. 

If you take the proposal on its face, you'd have to realize that the president is basically saying that he wants all the unemployed people out there to become construction workers.  That would be nice if in fact the construction industry had been the hardest hit with job losses.  Unfortunately for the president, that industry isn't the one bleeding the most jobs.  Manufacturing comes to mind first. 

I think it's naive to think you're going to turn all the unemployed people out there into concrete finishers and excavator operators.  It doesn't work that way.  Most companies have crews in place and any new contract will not affect their hiring.  Most road crew workers go from job to job to begin with - this move would just mean they stay with one company for a little longer.  And I'm not going to hire an out of work sales guy for anything other than shoveling concrete and I'm only going to pay him $8.50 an hour until he learns to something useful.  That could take a year or more.  The guys I pay $20 an hour are very experienced construction guys and they didn't get that way in a month. 

Most folks aren't going to want to go work construction - especially if they aren't from a similar background.  And let's not forget - he's proposing a massive extension of jobless benefits that would give people a choice between raking hot asphalt in the hot July sun and getting paid to sit at home and wait for the phone to ring.  I'm going to assume all of those out of work tech guys are going to opt for second option.

In closing (I love fifth grade endings), I like the focus on construction, but I don't think it will mean much for the job numbers overall.

Comments

[what ?]

i thought the stimulus was about jobs and roads or was it more about bailouts ? so we doubled the national debt with the stimulus and nothing was spent on infrastructure ? want jobs ? get rid of the free trade agreement and go to managed trade.