Let’s face it: Life has changed significantly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. And those changes aren’t just impacting our personal lives, they’re also affecting how we work.

Indeed, the COVID crisis has led many to rethink their life choices and life goals. And this, at least in part, may be the fuel driving the Great Resignation, as an ever-increasing number of workers choose to leave their current employers in pursuit of better opportunities and a more satisfying work-life balance.

The commercial construction industry is by no means immune from the impacts of the Great Resignation. And that means that, in the effort to recruit new talent and retain existing workers, a number of significant changes are taking place industry-wide. This article discusses some of the most important effects of the Great Resignation on the commercial construction industry.

Enhanced Employee Benefits

There’s no question that the work of a contractor is difficult, demanding, and often risky. For far too many contractors, the toll the work may take often far outweighs its advantages. This means that more and more commercial construction workers find themselves less willing to accept lower pay and an unsatisfactory work/life balance just for the security of a regular paycheck.

In response to this, the onus falls on industry leaders and employers to offer employee benefits packages and other perks that truly make the demands of the job worthwhile. This might include, for example, enhances parental leave packages.

Such packages may include extended paternity leave combined with comprehensive mental health benefits for new fathers who may be experiencing postpartum depression as they adjust to their new role and new family life.

Optimizing Communication

In the wake of the Great Resignation, labor shortages industry-wide have made productivity and efficiency more important than ever before. Tight budgets, schedules, and staffing mean that lean operations and superb workflow are fundamental to team, company, and project success.

Communication is a cornerstone of these efforts to drive efficiency and productivity in the wake of financial and workforce constraints. For this reason, commercial construction companies are prioritizing interdepartmental communication to prevent information silos and ensure that every worker is on-task and progressing smoothly and efficiently toward a shared goal.

Onboarding processes are a particularly important element of interdepartmental communications. During onboarding, new contractors can learn not only how to use critical communication tools but also when to use them.

Thus, recruiters, trainers, and leaders overseeing onboarding must ensure that new hires understand the chain of reporting and information flow, institution-wide, including agreeing to rigorously adhere to communication policies and procedures. The end result is a more transparent, interconnected, and efficient team prepared to overcome the challenges of staffing shortages and time and budget constraints.

The Takeaway

The Great Resignation has impacted the labor force across industries, including the field of commercial construction. However, not all of the effects of the Great Resignation have been negative. In response to the phenomenon, the commercial construction industry has enhanced its communication processes, expanded benefits and opportunities for workers, and optimized efficiency and productivity industry-wide.