HBI’s Plan for Tackling the Labor Shortage in Construction

Workforce Development
Published

At the International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Orlando last month, Ed Brady, president of the Home Builders Institute (HBI) — NAHB’s educational arm — led the call to action for solving the housing industry’s chronic skilled labor shortage.

At a press conference, Brady, 2021 NAHB chairman Chuck Fowke and NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz outlined the construction industry’s challenge of retaining, recruiting and replacing skilled carpenters, framers, electricians and plumbers (among other trades) to the tune of 2.2 million by 2025.

That tall order, based on recent research by Dietz and his team, factors in demand projections for new homes and buildings along with current job openings and other metrics, bringing the labor issue into sharper relief, if perhaps crisis mode.

“It is one of the greatest challenges right now in our industry,” said Fowke, a Florida custom builder. “And it’s likely to get worse before it gets better.” HBI operates more than 400 programs in 47 states. Those programs graduate about 10,000 students per year, arming them with various trade skills. In addition, the institute also has 220 partner organizations, most recently adding the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Still, with the goal of filling 740,000 skilled labor jobs over the next three years, more work needs to be done.“ This is a call to action for the entire industry, because we’re in crisis,” Brady said. Pro Builder Media Editorial Director Rich Binsacca sat down with Ed Brady to probe deeper into how he thinks the industry can achieve its workforce goals. Read the full Q&A.

Subscribe to NAHBNow

Log in or create account to subscribe to notifications of new posts.

Log in to subscribe

Latest from NAHBNow

Economics

Oct 29, 2025

Fed Cuts Rate Amid Partly Cloudy Conditions

With the government shutdown limiting the quantity of economic data available to markets and policymakers, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) enacted a widely anticipated 25 basis point cut for the short-term federal funds rate. This marks the second consecutive cut this fall.

Trends

Oct 29, 2025

Do Consumers Want Two-Story Foyers?

Nearly a quarter of new homes were built with a two-story foyer in 2024 — a number that has been trending downward over the past eight years. Though the national decline continued, regional patterns were mixed. See where this feature is hot — and where it's not.

View all

Latest Economic News

Economics

Oct 29, 2025

The Fed Cuts amid Partly Cloudy Conditions

With the government shutdown limiting the quantity of economic data available to markets and policymakers, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) enacted a widely anticipated 25 basis point cut for the short-term federal funds rate.

Economics

Oct 28, 2025

Home Price Growth Slows

Home prices in August grew at the lowest annual rate in over two years, according to the recent release of the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index (seasonally adjusted – SA).

Economics

Oct 27, 2025

Two-Story Foyer Trend Stabilizes in 2024

In 2024, nearly a quarter of new homes were built with a two-story foyer, virtually unchanged from 2023, according to data obtained from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) and tabulated by NAHB.