Labor Topped Tariffs at AEC Summit, DIRTT CEO Says Retention Is Key
The U.S. construction industry must attract 349,000 additional workers in 2026 and another 456,000 in 2027, according to Associated Builders and Contractors estimates cited in a Construction Executive commentary by Benjamin Urban, CEO of DIRTT. Urban writes that labor dominated a recent AEC leadership summit, ahead of tariffs and inflation.
The piece is an opinion column, not original reporting. Urban says contractor hiring has slowed while firms hold onto experienced craft professionals. He cites a Bloomberg report that skilled trades, not capital, are becoming a top constraint on how fast AI data center capacity gets built. Data center projects are offering significantly higher wages to secure that talent, he writes. That pulls from the same pool needed for hospitals, schools, airports and commercial offices, and it raises the cost of conventional construction.
His argument is that crews should spend less time on rework, avoidable coordination problems and warranty repairs. He also cites a JLL report showing annual skilled trades job postings have more than doubled over the past decade.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Plan for wage pressure from data center work. Urban says data center projects are paying significantly higher wages for the same trades that staff hospitals, schools, airports and offices. Check your pay scales against those projects before your next bid cycle, not after crews leave.
- Treat rework as a retention cost. The commentary says revisiting work and fixing avoidable coordination issues wastes scarce skilled hours. Track callbacks and field corrections by crew and project. Raise coordination gaps with GCs before install begins.
- Size the gap. ABC’s figures add up to 805,000 workers over 2026 and 2027 (349,000 plus 456,000). With contractor hiring slowed and firms hoarding experienced craft workers, keeping your current foremen and journeymen is cheaper than replacing them.
