What to Do About the Labor Shortage in Roofing

By Alec Doniger. 

John Kenney shares how training and a well-defined career path can fill the abundance of job opportunities available in our industry. 

It is an unfortunate reality that the workforce in the roofing industry is thinning. Fewer people today consider roofing to be a viable career option when this is simply not the case. To learn how we can come together and fix this, Karen Edwards interviews John Kenney of Cotney Consulting Group in a recent RLW: Beyond the Labor Shortage with Field Leadership Training.. 

John has followed a long lineage of family members who have been involved in roofing. His grandfather started his own roofing business in 1922, and the family has been involved in the industry ever since. "This is in my blood,” he remarks. Over the years, John has seen how the trends for roofing employment have changed . He offers a unique perspective on this issue. 

“I think right now [we] could put a half a million more people to work throughout our industry,” says John.  

However, the difficulty the industry has retaining employees along with its aging workforce, is contributing to the labor shortage. The demographic that John wants to focus on the most is the group of people who leave business between three to six months after hire.  

“Usually what we hear from those workers is, ‘well, I don't want to just pick up a broom for the rest of my career,’ or, ‘I feel outed on the crew,’” observes John.  

The construction industry must work to incentivize workers to stay, and the world at large needs to be accepting of trade professions, especially roofing. A major incentive for workers to stay is the existence of a “clear path” within your company.  

“When you're onboarding someone or interviewing for a job, you should be able to tell them how your company flows,” John explains. If companies can fully inform potential employees about their operations, workers will have something to work towards when they get hired.  

Listen to the full podcast to hear more solutions to the labor shortage within the roofing industry. 

Learn more about Cotney Consulting Group in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit cotneyconsulting.com. 

About Alec 

Alec is a reporter for RoofersCoffeeShop, MetalCoffeeShop and AskARoofer. When he isn’t investigating the state of the roofing industry, you might find him playing drums with his bands in Denver.