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Workforce Development and Education in the Construction Industry: Challenges and...
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Workforce Development and Education in the Construction Industry: Challenges and Strategies

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2024 | Viewed by 7757

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Manideep Tummalapudi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Construction Management, California State University, Fresno, CA 90032-8506, USA
Interests: construction workforce development; construction education; emerging technologies in construction; construction finance
Dr. Christofer Harper

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Health and Human Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Interests: construction workforce; relational contracting; project delivery; integrated project teams; emerging technologies; construction inspection; construction education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The success of the construction industry relies on the support of a sufficient and competent workforce. However, across the world, this industry is facing historic shortages of skilled workers, which negatively impacts productivity. A research report in the US indicates that 35% of the current construction industry workforce will be retiring before 2032, and it is extremely important for policy makers, academics, and researchers to investigate the challenges and develop programs and strategies to address these issues. This is same across other developed and developing nations. Additionally, it is increasingly becoming difficult to attract, recruit, and retain younger generations, due to their negative perceptions about the industry. This special edition focuses on challenges and strategies for workforce development in construction industry, including an aging workforce; recruitment and retention; skill shortages; workplace training; workforce training for emerging technologies; immigration issues for construction workforce; workforce development programs; competencies and KSAs for construction workforce training and development; organizational and workplace programs for effective workforce development; the diversity, equity, and inclusion of underrepresented and minority groups; the role of technology in workforce development; and the training needed to use technologies in the field.

Dr. Manideep Tummalapudi
Dr. Christofer Harper
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • construction workforce development
  • workforce training
  • immigration in construction
  • recruitment and retention
  • technologies for workforce development
  • construction skill shortages
  • diversity, equity, and inclusion in the construction workforce

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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28 pages, 2162 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Drone Operator Competency within the Construction Industry: Assessing Training Needs and Roadmap for Skill Development
by Janet Mayowa Nwaogu, Yang Yang, Albert P. C. Chan and Xiaowei Wang
Buildings 2024, 14(4), 1153; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14041153 - 19 Apr 2024
Viewed by 339
Abstract
Industry 5.0 is expected to solve the issue of job insecurity and reluctance to adopt emerging technologies in Industry 4.0 through increased workforce participation. To achieve that, proactive training should be afforded to enable the workforce to co-work with new technologies. Drones are [...] Read more.
Industry 5.0 is expected to solve the issue of job insecurity and reluctance to adopt emerging technologies in Industry 4.0 through increased workforce participation. To achieve that, proactive training should be afforded to enable the workforce to co-work with new technologies. Drones are an emerging technology increasingly adopted in construction, which has enormous data collection and safety implications when operational skills are inadequate. Yet, current drone training programs appear to be generic, and their ability to equip operators for flying tasks is questioned. This study aims to answer this question by assessing the adequacy of existing drone training programs and proposing training needs and strategies for drone operators in the construction industry. Data collected using semi-structured interviews from 22 purposively selected respondents in Hong Kong and desk research of websites were subjected to inductive content and thematic analysis using MAXQDA Analytics Pro 2022 software and narrative review. It was deduced that drone training courses in Hong Kong were mostly generic (UAS Pilot Training—Level 1, FPV operation). Interviewees considered existing drone training/training courses as inadequate for four reasons, including “lack of context-fitting considerations”, “incompetence of drone operators”, and “lack of demand/interest”. Regarding the need for specialized drone training courses, two barriers and two training ecosystem themes emerged, with the high cost of specialized courses being a potential barrier to adoption since they could hamper enrolment. The training ecosystem themes were consistent with the “the training is inadequate” theme. This study proposes two drone operation training strategies: “competence-based training” and a “train-the-trainer” model. Drone training courses or programs under each training strategy should include (i) training content such as “safety training” and off-GPS training and (ii) knowledge and skill maintenance measures such as mandatory continuous professional development and retraining techniques. The proposed training strategies will equip operators to work efficiently and safely with drones. The study offers valuable references for training organizations and government authorities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Workforce Development and Education in the Construction Industry: Challenges and Strategies)
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28 pages, 1926 KiB  
Article
Applying the Tier II Construction Management Strategy to Measure the Competency Level among Single and Multiskilled Craft Professionals
by Rakan K. Albalawi, Paul M. Goodrum and Timothy R. B. Taylor
Buildings 2023, 13(5), 1175; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13051175 - 28 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1122
Abstract
Various contemporary studies have revealed a heightened need for the implementation of effective strategies to reduce labor shortages in the construction industry. The subsequent investigation outcomes have identified multiskilling labor strategies as viable solutions to alleviate labor deficiencies in the construction sector. These [...] Read more.
Various contemporary studies have revealed a heightened need for the implementation of effective strategies to reduce labor shortages in the construction industry. The subsequent investigation outcomes have identified multiskilling labor strategies as viable solutions to alleviate labor deficiencies in the construction sector. These strategies aim to train single-skilled craft professionals so that they can acquire different skills and complete tasks in addition to their primary duties in the workplace; however, limitations exist in terms of measuring competency levels among single-skilled and multiskilled craft professionals. Thus, a workforce management strategy, referred to as Tier II strategy metrics, is used in this study as a comprehensive approach to evaluate the construction workers’ competency levels among more than 2740 workers in the industry. Furthermore, multinomial logistic regression was applied to explain the variability in both the project craft technical and project craft management Tier II score. The overall average Tier II score for multiskilled workers was 6.27, whereas single-skilled workers scored 5.17. The results show that multiskilled craft professionals have higher competency levels compared with single-skilled craft professionals. The outcome from the regression model demonstrates that craft workers who are experts and multiskilled are competent in terms of their project craft technical skill, and years of experience is the most important variable for predicting high competency levels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Workforce Development and Education in the Construction Industry: Challenges and Strategies)
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20 pages, 1370 KiB  
Article
A Study of the Soft Skills Possessed and Required in the Construction Sector
by Andries (Hennie) van Heerden, Mostafa Babaeian Jelodar, Gregory Chawynski and Sean Ellison
Buildings 2023, 13(2), 522; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13020522 - 14 Feb 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4743
Abstract
Soft skills are essential to employability and retention; therefore, if obtained and observed, they can significantly reduce sector-wide turnover. This study aims to investigate and compare soft skills that industry professionals currently possess and soft skills the industry requires and needs to attain. [...] Read more.
Soft skills are essential to employability and retention; therefore, if obtained and observed, they can significantly reduce sector-wide turnover. This study aims to investigate and compare soft skills that industry professionals currently possess and soft skills the industry requires and needs to attain. A questionnaire was administered using the RICS database, and 741 respondents participated in this study. Initially, the soft skills possessed and the soft skills required were analysed and compared via descriptive statistics. Furthermore, principal component factor analysis was used to identify the underlying factors and classify the identified soft skills. It was found that there are alignments and evident discrepancies between the actual skills currently possessed and the skills required by these professionals. The soft skills currently possessed by the industry were classified into three groups: (a) Ethics and Professionalism Cluster; (b) Self-Effort Management Cluster; and (c) Management—Leadership and Power Cluster. This was different to the two clusters identified for the soft skills requirements, which were: (a) trait-based cluster—less controllable; (b) training-based cluster—more controllable. The study concludes that there are controllable and less-controllable skills, which need to be possessed and managed in building professionals. Controllable soft skills are easier to train, whereas trait-based soft skills are more difficult to train and possess. The findings of this research are significant as their understanding can be used to help mitigate turnover and guide construction sector professionals to plan for the appropriate skills they require. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Workforce Development and Education in the Construction Industry: Challenges and Strategies)
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Review

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11 pages, 264 KiB  
Review
Developing Supplemental Instructional Videos for Construction Management Education
by Andrew F. Barnes, Andrew P. McCoy and Quinn Warnick
Buildings 2023, 13(10), 2466; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13102466 - 28 Sep 2023
Viewed by 658
Abstract
Technological advancements and lower production costs since the mid-1990s have dramatically improved opportunities for instructors to tailor self-made instructional videos for their students. However, video production technology has outpaced the development of educational theory, causing instructional videos to consistently fall short of their [...] Read more.
Technological advancements and lower production costs since the mid-1990s have dramatically improved opportunities for instructors to tailor self-made instructional videos for their students. However, video production technology has outpaced the development of educational theory, causing instructional videos to consistently fall short of their pedagogical potential. Responding to these shortcomings, scholars from various backgrounds have started publishing guidelines to help practitioners as they develop instructional videos for their respective fields. Using a rapid literature review, this article contributes to this ongoing effort by synthesizing theory-based, best-practice guidelines for a specific subcategory of educational videos called supplemental instructional videos (SIVs). SIVs are different from other types of instructional videos in that they are used to support and magnify other learning methods, mediums, and materials rather than substitute for them. Bringing the best-practice guidelines synthesized in this paper immediately into application, they were used to inform the production of SIVs for an undergraduate course that was held in the Building Construction Department of a major public university in the United States during the Spring 2020 semester. The methods used in the production of the SIV guidelines were systematically documented during the course for future researchers and practitioners to learn and build from. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Workforce Development and Education in the Construction Industry: Challenges and Strategies)
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