WORKFORCE: Construction jobs coming back

Transcription

1 WORKFORCE: Construction jobs coming back The Great Recession turned Eliut Vera into a pilgrim, sending the Orange County construction worker to New York on a quest for employment. I was a dishwasher, a dry cleaner, a kitchen worker and a cook, Vera said during a break at the Park Place Michelson apartment construction site. Carpenter Claudio Roman ended up working at a soap factory in Utah. Hugo Barragan worked at a plastic bottle factory in Corona. And former carpentry foreman Chuck Littlepage did a series of odd jobs including time as an ironworker and a handyman scraping enough together to pay the rent. Now the four are back in Southern California, working at building sites from Irvine to Lake Elsinore as the construction industry picks up steam again. Construction jobs in the region were almost cut in half from boom to bust, state employment figures show. During the past three years, however, builders in the region have hired back more than 56,000 of the 123,000 construction workers who lost their jobs during a building slowdown lasting from 2007 through Construction was Southern California s third-fastest growing sector in the year ending in April, accounting for 16 percent of all new jobs in the region, state figures show. In Orange County, construction accounted for nearly a third of all new jobs. The Associated General Contractors of America reported last month that Los Angeles and Orange counties ranked first and third among U.S. metro areas in April in creating new construction jobs.

2 As a result, a 39-year-old car washer is back to installing fire alarms at a new Irvine apartment complex. A 64-year-old superintendent who had to start his own contracting business is back to overseeing Orange County projects for a homebuilding firm. And a 45-year-old concrete worker who did side jobs to pay child support and room and board is back to driving a cement truck full time. Picking up steam High-rise towers are going up. Hotels are being built. And housing particularly apartments is booming. We re absolutely seeing an increase in activity this year, said Mike Balsamo, chief executive of the Building Industry Association of Orange County. We are hearing stories of the guys who were alternatively employed coming back into management and sales. Construction work slowed to a crawl in As jobs were cut, said Irvine real estate consultant Walter Hahn, employees either followed work to places such as Texas, Montana, Idaho and Utah or they just stopped being construction workers. But construction work is one of the best-paying blue-collar jobs. As soon as things stoke up and things got going again, a lot of people who were doing other things come back, Hahn said. Salomon Herbert, 33, of Orange is among them. During the housing boom, Herbert installed heating and air conditioning systems at new housing tracts. But during the downturn, employment in his department dropped to fewer than 14 from 120 workers. Herbert landed work as a laborer for a general construction firm that did roofing, demolition, remodeling and excavation. His pay fell from about $15 per hour to $10, and he was forced to move into a rented room after short selling a condo he owned with his brother.

3 Now he s back to his old job installing air ducts in new homes, and his family has its own apartment again. Talent search Many contractors say they re not seeing the old faces. Some have gone to work in the oil industry, warehousing and trucking and aren t coming back, industry observers said. Industry executives indicate they are having trouble finding workers because of the long recession, said Inland Empire economist John Husing. Demand for labor makes hiring very competitive, boosting wages and labor costs for employers. That same $14.50 an hour guy is now $17. A good craftsman is up to $25 an hour, said Mari Kurtz, owner of Cal Pac Sheet Metal in Santa Ana. You can t expect to pay any less because there s (lots of) work. Union workers such as electricians and plumbers, however, also aren t seeing the same increase in jobs unless they re willing to work on large solar projects in the desert, observers said. Commercial construction that relies more on union labor remains relatively slow. We see a little bit of a pick up, but it s mainly in the housing and apartment-type work, said Glen Nolte, a business manager for the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters, Welders & Apprentices local in Orange. The downturn took a toll for many. Adolfo Camacho, 45, of Highland Park saw his hours dwindle to three days a week, forcing him to take on extra work painting, remodeling, demolition to cover the gaps in his income. He and his wife, Andrea, still are bitter over their failed effort to get a loan modification on their house. They didn t learn the bank had sold it until four weeks after the foreclosure took place. We lost everything we had in the house, Andrea Camacho said.

4 Two weeks ago, Camacho was working at the Park Place Michelson project. By Monday, he was at another job in Colorado. He also works on commercial projects in Las Vegas, Northern California and throughout Southern California. When you re away from home, all you eat is garbage, he said of the fast-food eateries he frequents. The company requires it. We go from one place to another. It affects the family a lot, especially the children, his wife added. Surviving the downturn Carpenter Claudio Roman, 36, of Grand Terrace, and his ex-wife and sons moved in with friends in Salt Lake City during the recession because they no longer could afford to pay rent here. He spent two years working in a soap factory, making about half of what he earned in construction. His marriage didn t survive the strain. A lot of people got divorced during the hard times, he said. Co-worker Hugo Barragan, 33, of Riverside worked in a plastic bottle factory, then in a video-camera packing plant, making just enough for food and rent, he said. We lived with family and shared our expenses, Barragan said. What we spent was just for food and rent. There were no outings. Now both are busy working for Inland Empire Framing, working on projects throughout the region. Life is better now, Barragan said. I have the peace of mind knowing I have work and money, too. Chuck Littlepage, 46, was a foreman for a finish carpentry contractor when he got his layoff notice. But he did what he could to get by. Iron work, driving a forklift and working for a handyman. He did tile work, painting, faucet repairs and garbage disposal installations.

5 I just had to work more, the Murrieta carpenter said. I (went from) a salaried employee making $1,015 a week to making a few hundred a week. Sometimes nothing a week. Somehow, he managed to scrape together enough for the rent. It might be to the penny, he said, but I d make it. Today, he s back to being a rank-and-file carpenter, doing production work at housing tracts in Irvine, Big Bear and Lake Elsinore this past week. I m working hourly not back to where I was, but close, he said. But hey, at least we ve got steady work. It looks like construction s picking up, and hopefully, it sticks. Source: