Our Shrinking Labor Force: The Right Tools to Keep Your Business on Track

The future success of your business in dependent on the growing labor problem.

At the Western Roofing Expo this year, Hapco, Inc. assembled a panel of roofing industry leaders to discuss the growing labor problem. Participating were Jennifer Stone, president of Nations Roof, Jennifer Ford-Smith, director of sales at Johns Manville, and James Willits, GAF western region building and science specialist.

Forty seven percent of commercial contractors and 28 percent of residential contractors reported that finding quality workers is the most impactful issue facing roofers today. The industry as a whole needs to do a better job of recruiting young professionals and contractors have begun offering new incentives to attract new workers and maintain existing teams.

With labor costs rising, staying competitive in the market with quality labor is becoming more of a challenge. Commercial contractors reported that average labor costs were up 11 percent and residential contractors report a 15 percent increase.

What can contractors do NOW to stay competitive while searching for quality labor? One answer is to utilize the tools and technologies that increase efficiencies, save time and reduce the amount of labor required on a job.

Start by saving an hour of production time with this solution from Hapco, Inc., the world’s largest distributor of BAK tools: the BAK RoofOn® and RoofOn Edge®. Watch a video demo here. Next consider new technologies that manufacturers like Johns Manville are offering including self-adhered TPO. It offers a faster installation time and a wider temperature installation window. They also offer pre-taped EPDM that eliminates the need for primer and allows wider sheets to be used in between the pre-taped ones for cost and time savings.

With unemployment at its lowest in nearly a decade, good hires are hard to come by. Hiring moves to beat the labor shortage include:

• Asking employees’ friends and friends-of-friends and offer an incentive/reward program
• Considering social media ads – LinkedIn, Facebook, Indeed, Monster or other online job-search tools
• Attending job fairs
• Using a recruiter but beware that this can be costly
• Outsourcing piece work to subcontractor crews or a temp service
• Recruiting college graduates into construction management

Audience discussion also brought to light the insight from millennials and how they are often misunderstood by the older (baby-boomer) generations. Millennials realize they have a lot to learn and are eager to do so. They also have a wealth of information to share. Their talents are cutting edge for bringing established companies into the 21^st century, empowering them to compete and thrive in today’s roofing industry. There is much to learn and discover on both ends.

Look inside your business as well. Be sure you have a good culture that is appealing to potential new hires. It takes time and money to hire the right employees so it’s important to be sure they will stay once on board. Audience discussion also brought to light

Don’t forget about women in the roofing industry. There are many women in the industry running successful companies, leading crews and more. The National Women in Roofing association supports the recruitment of women in the industry and can connect you with members that can offer tips on recruitment.

To learn more about Hapco, Inc. visit www.hapcoinc.com.

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