The long-running shift in the construction labor force away from construction trades and toward management, business, and technical roles is ongoing and gaining momentum, according to NAHB’s analysis of the latest 2024 data from the American Community Survey (ACS). Although total industry employment now slightly exceeds the levels reached during the 2005–2006 housing boom, the composition of that workforce has changed markedly. The share of construction trades workers has declined from 71% in 2005 to less than 59% in 2024. At the same time, the share of computer, engineering, and science occupations has more than doubled, while management and business roles have expanded by 73%.
These shifts are particularly striking in the context of persistently modest productivity growth in construction. In principle, a larger presence of engineering and technology workers should support productivity gains through improved project design, coordination, and innovation. However, the expansion of management and business roles may also reflect increasing regulatory complexity, permitting requirements, and compliance costs, all of which can lengthen project timelines and raise overhead without directly increasing output. The declining share of skilled trades workers, the group most directly responsible for on-site production, may also offset any productivity gains. Taken together, these compositional changes complicate the link between workforce structure and productivity.
As of 2024, the construction labor force exceeds 12.1 million workers, slightly above its mid-2000s peak. Construction trades, such as carpenters, electricians, painters, plumbers, laborers, and first-line supervisors, account for 7.1 million workers, or 58.8% of the total. By comparison, there were 8.5 million trade workers at the peak of 2006. The loss of more than one million tradesmen helps explain the persistent labor shortages reported in the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) Survey.
Over the same period, the industry has absorbed a growing number of white-collar workers. Management ranks expanded from 1.2 million to 2 million workers, increasing its share from 10% to 17%. Business and financial occupations grew at similar rates. Meanwhile, the number of engineers, architects, and science-related occupations more than doubled, now accounting for nearly 2.8% of the workforce, up from just 1.3% in 2005.
Even with these gains, white-collar roles remain less prevalent in construction than in the broader U.S. economy. However, their growth has outpaced national trends. For example, the share of computer, engineering, and science occupations more than doubled in construction, compared to a 48% increase across the overall U.S. workforce. Similarly, legal and design occupations doubled their share in construction, while their economy-wide presence grew only 20% since 2006.
Several structural factors likely underpin these trends. Advances in construction technologies—including digital design, project management software, and prefabrication—have increased demand for technical expertise. At the same time, a more stringent regulatory and building code environment has raised the need for administrative, compliance, and managerial functions. The changing workforce composition also coincides with declining self-employment rates in construction, suggesting a shift toward larger firms. These firms are generally better positioned to invest in new technologies, manage regulatory complexity, and absorb rising overhead costs.
The labor force statistics reported here are derived from the ACS Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), which provides comprehensive coverage of both payroll employees and the self-employed. Consistent with standard labor force definitions, these estimates include both employed individuals and those actively seeking work.
