Survey: Construction Workers In Short Supply In State

Construction workers are in short supply in Wisconsin. Three fourths of state firms surveyed by the Associated General Contractors say they have trouble filling hourly openings for craft work. About 112-thousand Wisconsinites worked in construction in July, 22-thousand more than in 2010 — and a state spokesman says 12-percent more workers will be needed for the decade ending in 2024, not including the proposed Foxconn high tech plant. Media reports say much of the state’s construction growth is in downtown Milwaukee where 26-hundred people built the newly opened Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance tower. Almost half of those were in a city program that helps unemployed and underemployed Milwaukeeans learn building trades.