The year has gone by so fast and people are literally still trying to catch up. Shortages in both labor and materials have impacted nearly every business and industry. Construction has been especially hit hard as experienced workers are hard to find. Some people are greatly benefiting from the shortages and setting personal records financially. However, others are struggling and that includes businesses in need of assistance whether it be regarding labor, the availability to materials or both. Construction has had a crazy year but 2022 brings new hope and opportunities.
The good news for the industry is that the new year shows promise in demand for work. Business and homeowners are using government incentives and tax breaks to upgrade their properties with full remodels, rebuilds and so forth. Commercial property owners, for example, who are struggling to rent out their facilities are now using the time to fix up their properties, making them more efficient and bring things like energy usage, windows and so forth up to new regulations. Major programs are also underway to begin work on local schools, hospitals, bridges and roads. The fact is that the new year will bring plenty of work. However, the concern contractors have now is if they can complete the work because of the shortages in labor and materials.
The good news there is that unemployment is reporting 50 year lows across the board meaning people are back to work. That means material availability should increase in early 2022 and you can expect prices to start going down at some point during the year as well. It’s hard to know to what extent these issues will be resolved. However, they certainly are trending in the right direction for next year, as is the construction industry. Contractors will have a unique opportunity next year to grab more work because their services will be in great demand throughout the year, giving these businesses a chance to bounce back from the past couple of years.
