Jim Kollaer's blog

The issues of Wage Theft and payroll fraud were highlighted in Houston, Texas last week when two leaders on the issues spoke before the Houston City Council.  This was part of the effort to garner support against those contractors and business owners who continue to cheat their workforce by not paying them overtime, benefits or by misclassifying them as Independent Contractors and not paying unemployment insurance, federal income taxes or medical benefits.

Kim Bobo, Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice and author of the book Wage Theft in America, and Stan Marek, CEO of the Marek Family of Companies based in Houston, aimed a shining a bright light on those abuses with their testimonies, and made the Council members aware of how Wage Theft can occur on their construction projects even though they might not be aware of it.

Cindy Gutowski, a worker in the floral industry, testified about her losses when she was defrauded of overtime pay.  Kim Bobo testified about how widespread the issue is across the United States in a number of businesses, and Stan Marek spoke of the impact of the issue on the construction industry in Houston and around Texas.  They each spoke of losses of wages, competitiveness and taxes and how those actions were damaging to workers, their families and our communities.   [node:read-more:link]

Kerrick Whisenant, the president of the American Subcontractors Association, in his February newsletter to the membership, told of a meeting recently held in his offices with a group of ASA leaders who were asked to take a look into the future of the industry.  This is his account of that meeting and the findings.

“The ASA Rap Council – ASA ‘s ‘think tank’ that develops innovative ideas for consideration by the association – took up the difficult but fascinating challenge of ‘peering into the future’ last month while meeting at my company’s offices in Alabama.  Here is what members of the council foresee for the next 10 years:

• Differences between high-end and low-end specialty trade contractors increase, as high-end is quality/skill-driven and low-end is price-driven.

[node:read-more:link]

This month, the Engineering News Record Technology column (subscription required) featured a Q & A with Shawn Pressley VP of IT at Hill International, an engineering firm headquartered in New Jersey.

Pressley, a 13 year veteran civil engineer makes the case that the next technology to be used on the jobsite will be the tablet in what ever form it takes, iPad, iPhone, tablet pc or other iteration.  He makes a cogent case that one of the major issues to overcome as these tools enter the construction process is the change that its use will require.

The demographics on the site where most Project Managers and supervisors are in their 50s and 60s will be a factor.  The older generation is reluctant to make the change while the younger workers use the technology everyday. [node:read-more:link]

If you want to see the latest of the tall or super tall buildings that are planned or constructed around the world, take a look at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) revised website which features a Skyscraper Center.  This database, complete with stats and photos, is compiled under the CTBUH  non-profit organization which has its headquarters at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.  The latest posting by Nadine Post at ENR Insider (subscription required) states that

“The Skyscraper Center contains detailed profiles and images on every completed building in the world taller than 200 meters, as well as thousands of other buildings in various stages of development.  Users can easily determine the tower's rank, according to size, globally, regionally and within the country.  The website also contains the latest news and data on each project.”

Timothy Johnson, the council’s chairman, said about the new website, “The new site builds on our database compiled through 40 years of research and adds valuable new functions, new information and extensive assets for both professionals and nonprofessionals exploring the world of skyscrapers.”

The current generation of tall buildings contain forms and shapes that were dreams [node:read-more:link]

The overall employment picture was flat, according to the latest employment figures released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  The Bureau reported:

“Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 227,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.3 percent.  Employment rose in professional and businesses services, health care and social assistance, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and mining.”

The good news for the construction sector is that a year ago, the unemployment rate in our sector was 21.8% and last month it was down to 17.1%.  Year over year, we are seeing improvement, [node:read-more:link]

The latest article from Robert Charles Lesser & Co (RCLCO) shows an interesting chart of the demographic changes in the housing market and could be viewed as a predictor of the next phase of housing starts around the country.

Written by Gregg Logan, the Managing Director of the firm, the article is part two of a series that looks at the current housing market as analyzed by demographic.  The categories are the Eisenhowers and Great Generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X and Gen Y.  This one focuses on the impact of Generation Y as they enter the home buying marketplace.

The economy is having a major impact on how fast this generation of 30 and under moves from the multifamily market into the home buying market.  Logan writes:

“The rate at which Generation Y is forming new households is currently lower than Generation X before them, as young people in their early 20’s today have found themselves in a tougher job market, [node:read-more:link]

Over 250 of the nation’s leading specialty contractors will gather at the Hyatt Regency in San Antonio later this week for the 2012 American Subcontractor’s Association Business Forum and Convention.  This is the keynote event for the non- profit association of the nation’s leading Specialty Contractors.

This year’s convention will showcase leading suppliers, provide education updates and highlight the nation’s leading subcontractors.  The convention schedule lists a number of workshops, social events and the annual business meeting. [node:read-more:link]

The political follies are in full swing.  We have another nine months before the “Great American Public” will select the 45th president of the US.  No way yet to tell what will emerge from both sides as the campaigns turn up the volume.  Right now the Republicans are pummeling each other on the way to the convention and the Democrats are taking copious notes on every negative article and revelation that emerges from the fist-fight underway on the “R” side of the aisle.

Some of our industry organizations are already taking sides.  At their National Board of Directors Meeting in Phoenix last week, the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) announced their position.  According to their press release,

“Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today endorsed Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to be the 45th president of the United States.”

I wonder why they made that choice?  The press release goes on to explain. [node:read-more:link]

According to Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu, the nonresidential construction sector continued to add construction jobs in January.  This sector added 6,000 jobs in January and has added 12,000 jobs over the last year.  Nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 10,000 jobs in January and have added 42,000 jobs over the last 12 months.

The private sector may be beginning to expand, but the public sector funds are still lacking.  The latest ABC report states that “construction industry unemployment rate jumped to 17.7 percent in January, up from 16 percent the previous month”, so the overall unemployment in construction is still double the unemployment across all sectors in the US economy, which was at 8.3 percent last month. [node:read-more:link]

In a recent talk at the TEDx session in Istanbul, futurist Thomas Frey introduced the audience to some major changes heading our way that will eliminate 2 billion jobs by 2030 as we know them today.  He illustrates his scenarios and also speaks to new careers that will grow during the same period.

Frey is the author of Communicating with the Future, is a well known speaker on future issues, and is Senior Futurist at the DaVinci Institute, a non-profit futurist think tank in Colorado.   At the TEDx conference, he presented his thoughts about driverless cars and trucks such as the ones we have talked about, as well as several other changes that will eliminate many job categories by 2030.   [node:read-more:link]