Could the Recession Be a Good Thing For Construction?

I was talking to a former co-worker (I have lots of them) this weekend and of course the topic of the economy came up and we were trying to determine when things would pick up and when we would be out of this thing. I said that six months from now we would most likely be in a much better place. I was then reminded that six months ago I said the same exact thing while unemployment has done nothing but tick upward. It's easy to lose credibility when you keep making the same prediction that never comes true - your sanity will quickly come into question.

We then started to discuss what this recession will do for the industry and how things will look when we emerge from the dark cavern. While it could look like a sea of cardboard boxes housing homeless construction professionals, the more likely situation is one of a construction industry where the stronger companies survived and the weaker companies did not. I don't know what the statistics are for the failure rate of AEC firms during the recession, but I would imagine that the Darwin effect will show some signs of presence in our industry. But the question is if this is a good thing?

Suppose many AEC firms do go under through this whole thing and when things pick up again, new companies will surely emerge in an effort to eat some of the pie. So we're left with an industry that has some of the old strong players and some new rookie firms. But the question remains, is this a good thing?

And the answer is - perhaps. I think we will get a very good look at what kind of firms are doing well in construction by taking note of who is still alive when this thing turns around. What will these companies look like? Will the ones that survive have the better marketing or bidding strategies, or will they just have the most money? Will the survivors have the higher ethical standard, or the more devious and crooked values?

The fact of the matter is that when construction is booming again like it was in 2000 and 2005, we will be looking at a much different construction industry. It could be better and it could be worse, but it will certainly be different. I personally think it will be better. Every organization will be involved in the sustainability and green building movement and since this is a movement that also involves the incorporation of higher ethics and social responsibility, companies will adopt some of these values (or at least pretend to).

Regardless of what the industry looks like, we will in the least have much more people working and this is certainly a good thing. But will we be in a more sustainable, ethical, productive, and cohesive industry and will the unethical and self interested be weeded out?

I hope so.

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Are the White Collar Forgotten in a Recession

My last post stirred the pot a bit in some civil engineering forums. The Sorry Kid, Construction is a Cyclical Industry post brought some interesting and thought provoking comments. One of which brought about some particular interest from myself because it touched on a subject that tends to rarely get touched. And without going into any more drawn-out chatter, I'll just post the comment.

Four years ago, the pundits were lamenting a lack of engineers in the future. Someone please tell me, what lack are we seeing now? I am probably lucky to be out of work only since last May, and every advertised position I apply for has an "overwhelming response". And as for public works design projects, where? As far as I know, there isn't a stimulus program for the design professionals. I empathize with the guys and gals that take a shower after work, now how about the guys and gals that take one before going to work?

Doesn't everybody take a shower before work?

Anyway, I think this commenter is a bit peeved at the fact that engineering is sold by companies and universities as a relatively stable field that won't get you rich but will most likely keep you off the streets and out of a cardboard box. Well, about half of that is true. You probably won't get rich, but if you don't have some significant money saved you may be living in a beautiful 8 square foot mobile apartment when the construction market tanks.

Is it really worth going to school, busting your a** doing problem sets and studying for exams every night, just to get tossed on the street during the inevitable downturns that have occurred in this industry for the past 100 years? I'm sorry, but the answer is just no.

The government is now pushing like hell to get going on "shovel ready" projects. Well, that's great if you are an excavation contractor or a paving guy, but what about architects and engineers that need fresh projects coming in the door to get paid? Well, I'm sorry, but the group of architects and engineers is just too small compared to the millions of construction laborers, craftsmen, and equipment contractors to really make a difference. Bankrupting a few architects doesn't affect the economy in the least, and if nothing else will probably get a good chuckle from the folks at the jobsite. However, I do think there is some blue collar monkey business that should at least be discussed.

I worked with ironworkers who made $100k a year with a suspect high school education and some jail time under their belt. I wasn't making that much with a master's degree in engineering and 7 years experience. They also had union benefits which are pretty damn good. I also worked on a job were a likely illegal immigrant from Mexico was making $90k a year as a labor forman - far more than any of the project engineers with degrees in construction management, civil engineering, and construction science.

I know that getting these folks back to work is very important, but just because the white collar people have more formal education and work in a squeaky clean office doesn't mean they are except from the phone bill and it also doesn't mean that they'll make plenty of money when things do pick back up again.

The point is that the folks that work in the field on construction sites are doing just fine. And if they get about 10-15 hours of overtime in per week, they are doing better than fine - they're kickin' butt. They work hard, and they deserve to get paid and get back to work, but office folk work hard as well and often it's for less money than the field guys.

Screw college man, we should just go erect steel.

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