Hiring Practices for Skilled Craftsmen in the Construction Industry

The building construction industry experiences wild fluctuations in demand. Additionally, the industry is characterized by a competitive bid structure. A high labor turnover rate is the natural consequence of these conditions. Compounding this problem is the building industry\u27s highly labor intensive nature. Since contractors will perform the hiring process so frequently, their procedures must be able to identify the best qualified applicants. The current economic recession has brought many construction firms to a point of near idleness. The unemployment rate among skilled craftsmen is high. This has created a buyer\u27s market in which the contractors can choose the most qualified applicants. As business conditions improve the employers will be flooded with applications for a relatively few positions. Along with experienced construction workers, these applicants will likely include many unemployed factory workers. Contractors will need an effective method of separating the skilled craftsmen from the laid off worker whose listed experience was actually a summer job. The number of non-union, or open shop, contractors has been increasing dramatically (Northrup & Foster, 1975). Open shop contractors have a freedom in personnel decisions that is not common in union companies. These firms need to develop a hiring system that will replace the procedures which are determined by the union contract in union firms