Why America Is Running Out Of Carpenters - Cheddar Explains

The United States now has a skilled trade labor shortage of around 650,000 people, but among them it’s carpenters who top the list. Where have they all gone? We break it down to three reasons.

Further reading:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Angi:

Associated Builders and Contractors:

Stanley Black & Decker:

DeWalt Survey:

Bisnow:

Forbes:

Peopleready:

PR Newswire:

Yahoo:

Construction Dive:

Insider:

FRED Economic Data

NAHB:

NPR:

Big Rentz:

The Honest Carpenter:

Connect with Cheddar!

[pkz]

*There is no shortage of skilled workers*
There is only a shortage of skilled workers willing to work for peanuts.
The carpenters are here. We've just learned that we can make more working for ourselves, or in other fields.

[earthrider]

I was a carpenter.
The pay sucks.
We build multimillion dollar homes while we can't even afford to build ourselves a modest home.
General contractors keep all the money.
We build America and live in poverty.
Long hours in all weather, no one cares.
It wrecks our body too, no ins or retirement.

That's why you can't get people to aspire to be carpenters.

[ZeroTooL]

They say there is a teacher shortage, carpenter shortage, truck driver shortage... EVERY job can't be struggling to find workers.
Maybe jobs don't pay enough anymore.

[roflscarf]

Ive been working as a carpenter for 5 years, so just about approaching journeyman level. And I quit. Im going back to bartending and waiting tables. The hours are endless, the pay sucks, youre expected to provide all your own expensive tools and an expensive gas guzzling truck and then stand outside getting sunburnt or frostbitten all day. After taxes and expenses of maintaining tools and a vehicle take home ended up being around 15/16 an hour with no benefits. Why on earth would I choose to break my back, work in a toxic industry full of grumpy mean geezers building other people homes when Im not getting paid enough to afford my own home. Its a shit deal. Dont have enough of any profession? pay them more and it will change over night. Sick of hearing "this generation doesnt want to work anymore" when ive been busting my ass and still been on the brink of homelessness while you provide housing for others. Its not that we dont want to work, we just dont want to work for YOU. Because we see that its a bad deal. We see that there are no well paying options. And we see the developers showing up in their f350 lariat with a clean bed and no rust and no stains on their brand new carhartt. We know the money is coming in and were not getting it. So we quit. Its ass backwards and if people want it to change they gotta start paying real money. The only time Ive made any decent money in carpentry was working for myself. If you work for someone else they will always take your surplus value created. And then they bitch about "why cant I find reliable guys" lmao, get with it or get gone. Im glad I did it, now I have theses skills forever and I will always be able to fix things myself and be self reliant, but until the pay and work culture drastically improves I wouldnt recommend anyone touch the industry with a 20 ft pole

[EL-Duder-Reno]

It's sad to know that a real-estate agent makes more on a home than the carpenter that built it

[TheBrokeASSS]

I wasn't a carpenter but I was an electrician. And the environment on a construction site is not conducive to a young person learning. It's a bunch of older guys, giving you shit, acting superior and having outrageous expectations. A more experienced electrician tried to start a fight with me, Told everyone it was me who started it. since I was newer they fired me. So I'm not in construction anymore. I have to assume my story is not Unique.

[kevinb]

Pay them more and you’ll get more people wanting to enter the trade.

[matthewbanta]

When there are too many workers and not enough demand then no one seems to think twice about reducing worker's salary. But when there is too much demand and not enough workers at a given salary level, then companies act like they have an impossible problem and they have no idea what the solution could be.

[edward]

It’s not that “this generation doesn’t want to work anymore” it’s because people don’t want to be exploited anymore. So many trades, careers, and jobs pay way too little for it’s actual worth. Look at mechanics, truckers, loggers, wild fire fighters, etc etc. Plus there’s lack of trade education in high school and outside.

[cvwheeler]

Back in 1970 my father told me there was a severe shortage of brand new Cadillacs selling for $1000, but no shortage at all of Caddie's selling at $10, 000. It all depends on how much you are willing to pay.

[sarahtolbert]

My husband is a skilled carpenter but we unfortunately like to eat and have a home to live in. Because of this, he no longer works as a carpenter.

[carpo]

I'm a carpenter and I concur. It's hard to find good Carpenters out there, even people who know basic things. But part of the problem is that nobody takes Carpenter seriously or pays a fair wage. I could make 40 bucks an hour, but I also have to buy my own tools and pay gas to drive to various job sites. People don't realize how important it is. Until people are willing to pay Carpenters Fair wages, including the contractors, there won't be anybody interested in taking the job.

[xerokewl]

A good old man taught me carpentry and construction when I was 17, 18, 19. He told me, he was teaching me so I could handle my own when needed and as fall back skills for if times got tough and i needed work. He also told me if I made a career out of it, he'd break both of my legs before watching me destroy my body for little to no return. I kept doing ut a few years, went to college for programming, ended up a full He was right. I have a completely different career now and will live homeless before I ever work for someone else in the trades again. Sure, I use those skills daily for myself, those I care about and my own personal gain. I won't join that work force again. Treated like the trash while building, designing and fixing what these people want. Most wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for us.

[michaeldemarco]

I was an independent carpenter for almost 30 years. It got harder physically and the business end got way more complicated. I ended up doing custom work for an interior designer who treated me well. Actually we treated each other well. But the big companies? Forget it.

[joshuapartridge]

my step dad was a carpenter and it was miserable hard work that eventually killed him. He was a great carpenter and got paid well for one, being the lead on projects for as long as i knew him but we were not even middle class in arkansas. I'm not trying to do that for sure.

[TommyJonesProductions]

Contractors keep taking a larger and larger share of the productivity instead of sharing with the people who actually create the wealth.

[custombuilder]

40 years as a carpenter so far. Self employed. Truck, trailer, my tools cost as much as a new truck. Wood/metal framing. Drywall, all phases. Trim, doors, floors, locks, place n finish concrete. WDO repair etc. The more you know the less you get paid, the more you know how to do the more you're called a handy man....then just try to get paid....that's a battle all on it's own...

[Not-very-cash-money-of-you]

One important thing they forgot to mention is the effect the pandemic had. All of a sudden in 2020, tons of carpenters were out of work. A lot of small contract companies have little or no benefits, and weren't going to pay their employees to stay home. So these guys just found new jobs and never came back.

[georgelelandturner]

34 year old carpenter here, and newly licensed small business owner. I am a carpenter mainly because I enjoy it. Working with my body in fresh air, building something from scratch and standing back and appreciating its lasting value. We carpenters are generalists, we do everything the specialists can't do. It's never monotonous, there's always something new to learn and to experience. Real carpenters love it and find pride and honor in their work. And carpenters become contractors who manage and run the whole project including all the subcontractor specialists. There is growth potential into a solidly middle class lifestyle, and there is no limit to what a contractor can build which is exciting. I've never been motivated by having more money than the next guy, I'm motivated to find an honest living that I enjoy which I have found. Following my father's example, I am now a second generation contractor and have just been hired to build my first home from the ground up. We need to show more respect to the trades as a society. We are an innovation oriented society so we confer status to new fields such as tech, however the tradesmen who've always been building your houses will continue, and I think we'll find the the blue collar jobs will resist automation longer than many of the white collar jobs. We need to focus on promoting and educating for the trades and giving tradesman the respect they deserve.

[fixedit]

I’m a multi trade skilled craftsman. Carpenter, finish carpenter, plumber, welder, electrician. Left the building trade due to lowball pay saying I wasn’t good enough. Ended up as a Millwright pulling 120K plus a year applying my skills in a factory. Retiring this year at 58 with full pension and benefits. Nobody coming in with enough skills to replace me.