Construction Workers Wanted

Wednesday, September 19th 2007, 8:26 pm

By: News On 6

Construction workers are in high demand across eastern Oklahoma. The area is seeing a building boom, but local construction companies say workers are in short supply. Some companies are actually having to turn away business. The News On 6â€™s Ashli Sims reports local construction companies say there's plenty of work to do, but not enough workers to do it.

Commercials are hitting the airwaves across four states, because Crossland Construction is at a crossroads.

"The industry as a whole is facing a shortfall of worker all across the country,â€ said Dennis Burns, Crossland Construction business development director.

Burns is the business development director for Crossland and the star of the company's new commercials. He says they've never advertised on television until now.

"There's a large number of baby boomers leaving the industry and then there's not enough people new coming into the industry to replace them, so this is a problem," Burns said.

Flintco saw projects jump 27% last year. But the lack of workers is causing a construction crunch.

"We've had a challenge in meeting those needs, and we've actually had, which is really hard in the construction world to say no to projects, but we've had to say no to new clients because we're going to continually work with clients we have existing," Flinto division president Dave Kollmann said.

It's a problem that's actually a good sign for Green Country's economy. Building is booming from the rising BOK Center to local hospitals and schools.

The labor shortfall has companies like Crossland Construction using different tactics to go after a different kind of worker.

"We're going after a different market, we want those people who perhaps already have jobs, and may not be looking for work,â€ said Burns. â€œIf they see Crossland enough and want to come on board, we're ready."

Some say Oklahoma's recent immigration legislation, House Bill 1804, isn't helping the problem. It's not affecting commercial construction companies directly, but it's hammering their subcontractors. And some say if that continues it will drive up the price of doing business.

If youâ€™re interested in applying at Crossland Construction call 918-712-1441 or visit their website, www.crosslandconstruction.com.

Watch the video: Companies Hanging The Help Wanted Sign