“Working construction” used to be a young person’s occupation. After all, younger people are better suited to the labor-intensive work of construction than older workers whose bodies are starting to show the signs of a lifetime of wear and tear.
Well, in recent years, the construction industry’s workforce has been getting older.
According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), construction jobs are increasingly being manned by employees that are older than most people might expect. In fact, the national median age for a construction worker in 2017 was 42 — which is a year older than the median age for workers in the general labor force.
While many of the oldest construction workers are found in management positions or are working as inspectors, the reality is that construction companies are starting to rely more than ever on their older employees.
They really don’t have a choice.
As a whole, the construction industry is booming all around the nation — but laborers are in short supply. Entry-level construction jobs used to appeal to people without many job skills or much work experience. However, today’s supply of younger workers is currently being drawn from the Millennial generation. Many people in that generation have other technical skills that they can draw on for careers outside the construction industry.
If you’re an older construction worker, you may be glad that your job is fairly secure — but you also have to be more careful to avoid on-site accidents and injuries. As you age, any accident can be more severe and take longer to recover from once you’re down. That could easily leave you with financial strains and burdens that are difficult to manage.
If you’re injured in a construction accident, find out more about your options for compensation and what you should do to protect your interests and your family’s future.