The Workforce Crunch

HOW AEC FIRMS ARE MANAGING A TIGHTER LABOR POOL, SHIFTING EMPLOYEE DEMANDS AND A RISING PROJECT BACKLOG

BY LINDSEY RANAYHOSSAINI, Staff Writer

With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in Nov. 2021 and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act (CHIPS Act) in Aug. 2022, the need for engineers, especially those in the building and construction industry, is rising dramatically. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects approximately 24,200 job openings for civil engineers each year through 2031, with a 7-percent growth in employment from 2021 through 2031.

In Florida, recent population growth fueled by the post-pandemic migration to the state has placed additional demands on aging infrastructure and demonstrated the need for new infrastructure. Unfortunately, the demand for engineers has come at a time when many Baby-Boomers are retiring from the engineering workforce and there is not enough mid-level talent to replace them.

“I think what we’re feeling are the long-term effects of what happened in 2008 and 2009,” said Angelina Fairchild, PE, a senior vice president and civil/structural engineer at Kimley-Horn, Inc. “During that depression cycle, we lost a lot of people who were the up-and-comers, the next generation of engineers. The consequence of that is that the very senior people are teaching the very junior people, and there’s a big knowledge gap that we’re trying to fill.”

But the engineer shortage has been caused by more than the Great Recession. It’s a complex problem stemming from the longtime struggle to attract young minds to the engineering profession and other challenges that have arisen as a result of workplace disruptions created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regardless, the shortage has left short-staffed engineering firms in Florida and the rest of the country to compete for engineers in the tightest labor market they have witnessed to date.

“It is harder to find an engineer now than I’ve ever seen it,” said Kelly Cranford, PE, senior vice president and principal engineer at Culpepper & Terpening, Inc. “After the recession in 2009, it was hard to get engineers. A lot of them left the state when there wasn’t work and headed out West where there was. But now, with the internet and social media, we don’t have [location] as a restriction. We’re just seeing a national shortage of engineers.”

By Cranford’s account, Culpepper & Terpening could use about 10 more engineers. Katie Duty, PE, a vice president and civil engineer for HDR Engineering, Inc., said that her company was looking to fill 46 positions, with new needs and roles identified weekly.

“We are fortunate to be a large business with staff well beyond our Florida offices to support our project delivery needs, but we have definitely been impacted by the shortage of professionals here, often taking longer to fill roles and candidates with many opportunities to choose from,” Duty said. “Our clients are having challenges filling their open positions as well and are relying on companies like HDR to provide staff augmentation so their projects and programs can move forward.”

The Pandemic And Productivity

One contributing factor to the engineer shortage could be an overall decline in worker productivity in recent years, according to Scott Martin, president of ACEC Florida and project director and design-build market leader for Walter P. Moore.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that U.S. worker productivity in the first half of 2022 plunged to its lowest level since 1947. And in the first quarter of 2023, nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased by 2.7 percent.

The reasons for this dip in productivity are a combination of worker burnout, worker disengagement and the tight labor market that provides more leverage for employees. Some of these factors were catalyzed by the pandemic, when many people were forced to balance the demands and distractions of their full-time jobs with having their family members home throughout the normal workday.

“People in general have had to figure out worklife balance a little bit differently in the last few years, and it has led to loss of productivity,” Martin said. “People aren’t working 60 hours a week. They’re working 45 or 50, so there’s a chance that we’re just less productive as a society than we used to be. So we need more people to do the same amount of work. That’s one thought process.”

Studies of the workforce have also demonstrated a rise in “quiet quitting,” a phenomenon that occurs when employees choose to complete only their minimum job requirements rather than going above and beyond. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report found that at least 50 percent of the U.S. workforce was composed of quiet quitters and stated the true percentage was likely higher.

In the engineering industry, less productive workers compound the struggles of the current talent shortage and demand greater retention and engagement efforts by employers.

What Today's Talent Wants

When it comes to attracting and retaining talent, salary continues to be the primary factor that draws prospective employees, especially those in Gen Z. According to the 2022 State of Gen Z Report by the Center for Generational Kinetics, salary was the top priority for 49 percent of respondents, up from 37 percent in 2021.

But a high salary is not always enough to entice young engineers in a scarce talent pool. Martin said that firms have to be attentive to a variety of factors that are significant for the next generation of engineers, including advancement opportunities, sustainability programs, technology, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and flexibility. Even the nature of the projects that young engineers get to work on can entice them to one firm versus another.

“We work on some of the biggest – I think –coolest buildings in the country,” Martin said. “And that in itself is an attractive offer to young professionals who want to get out and work in building design or building engineering.”

Scheduling flexibility has also emerged as a recruiting tool for prospective employees. The State of Gen Z Report found that 32 percent of respondents ranked scheduling flexibility within their top three priorities. And Forbes reports that flexibility for employees concerns both when and where they complete their work.

“We know that with the younger generation coming out now, if we’re going to be an attractive company to work for, we’ve got to provide some level of flexibility to our staff,” Martin said. “And it’s less important where we work than it is what we’re working on.”

32% of respondents ranked scheduling flexibility within their top three priorities.

Where Work Happens

McKinsey’s 2022 American Opportunities Survey found that 58 percent of American workers reported having the opportunity to work from home at least one day a week. Furthermore, the survey found that 87 percent of Americans who are offered these flexible work options take advantage of them.

Three years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, hybrid work models have become a common facet of the American workplace. As engineering firms navigate the post-pandemic workplace and seek ways to attract and retain talent, many are offering employees some ability to work from home.

Whether engineering firms choose to allow employees the option of part- or full-time remote work usually depends on factors including the type of engineering, nature of the projects being completed and employees’ experience level.

At Martin’s firm, for example, employees are permitted to work in a hybrid model, and those with more years of experience are allowed to spend more work days at home than new engineers who need additional guidance and training. A more senior engineer might only spend two or three days a week in the office, while an entry-level engineer might be in the office four or five days a week.

Professional experience plays a role in those opportunities at Culpepper & Terpening as well, though Cranford said that she has not often encountered entry-level employees who are seeking opportunities for remote or hybrid work. According to Cranford, mid-level engineers with four to 10 years of experience are more likely to seek options to work remotely, while many of her firm’s entry-level engineers prefer opportunities for hands-on work in the field.

“[At] my firm, we start with planning, and we take a project all the way through construction,” Cranford said. “So if you’re remote, you can’t just run out to the site when it’s under construction and see what the problems are or see how the system is performing under heavy rainfall.”

Overall, Cranford noted that most remote work arrangements have worked well at her firm, especially when employees who were already members of the Culpepper & Terpening team have relocated for personal reasons.

“They already know the people and our expectations, and they have been able to go fully remote and still stay as part of our team,” Cranford said.

When Work Happens

Not all engineering firms have fully implemented remote work for their teams. Both Kimley-Horn and HDR Engineering, Inc. ask their employees to report to the office most of the time, with flexibility for when those hours are completed.

“We’ve had a flexible work policy for years, allowing staff to work schedules they need to fit short or long-term situations in their lives, but our company culture is based on collaboration and we primarily work in offices to do that,” Duty said.

Kimley-Horn also has a flexible scheduling policy that predates the pandemic, allowing employees to work nine-hour days Monday through Thursday and a four-hour day on Friday.

Fairchild said that these hours can be modified to fit an individual’s needs as long as there is no disruption to that person’s team.

“We have offered alternate schedules, flexible schedules and reduced schedules,” Fairchild said. “What the pandemic has shown us is that alternate, reduced and flexible schedules can include time at home, or time not physically in the office. It’s not our preferred method, but we have a policy in place that for up to a certain number of hours a week per month, you don’t really have to ask for permission to change your schedule.”

The Workload

Inevitably, the struggle to attract and retain engineers has created challenges for firms trying to keep projects on track without placing an undue burden on employees. In most instances, firms have had to turn new projects away to maintain existing project deadlines.

“No consultant ever wants to turn away work,” Duty said “At the same time, if we aren’t able to deliver quality projects to meet client expectations, that’s a big risk, so each pursuit and acceptance of assignments requires conversation, thought and planning.”

Kimley-Horn has had to shift engineers around to different teams to keep projects running on time, and in some cases, deadlines have had to be adjusted. As a senior-level employee, Fairchild said that she has not been able to delegate as many tasks because the skillsets of entry-level engineers at her company are still being developed. In the absence of midlevel employees who would have gotten their start during the Great Recession, senior-level employees have had to shoulder the burden.

“I don’t know if that’s causing a faster exit from the profession or not, but across the board, it has created some of that loss of talent at the upper levels as well,” Fairchild said.

The Work Ahead

There does appear to be some relief in sight for senior engineers, as engineers who now have five to six years of experience are capable of stepping into mid-level roles. The greater concern for the future is attracting enough students to engineering programs to build the next generation.

“I don’t know that enough people are entering the profession at the university level to keep the supply going,” said Fairchild, who also serves on the board of the Florida Engineering Foundation, a charitable organization committed to engineering education. “I think that’s going to be the next challenge. The potential pool of talent isn’t growing fast enough. In fact, I think it’s actually shrinking.

“I think we’ve been doing a good job of reaching down to the high school level, but I think that actually may be a little late.”

Fairchild said that when she was in high school, she did not know what an engineer was, and there is still a lack of understanding about the profession among today’s students. In her view, more education about the engineering field needs to be provided to middle school students to generate interest early on.

Students with an interest in STEM fields have also been attracted by the allure of working for big tech companies like Microsoft and Google, Martin said, drawing talent away from the engineering profession. He added that more education is needed to promote the stability of civil engineering careers.

“Building construction and engineering – on our side of things – it’s pretty steady,” Martin said. “It’s been fairly consistent for the last 50, 60 years, so maybe we haven’t been doing a good job of promoting ourselves and talking about what we do.”