How Ryan is Weathering the Construction Labor Shortage

By Scott Stenman, vice president of construction, Southeast region

Companies in every industry are struggling to recruit new talent. For construction, a labor shortage means new deals and projects can be put on hold, delayed, or dropped altogether. At Ryan Companies, we’ve been fortunate to experience tremendous growth across the country. In 2021, the company grew its team by 20% and delivered 28 million square feet of new construction. And here in the Southeast where I’m based, we also experienced exponential growth. Despite our successes, the labor shortage poses challenges. But it pushes us to explore new ways to attract talent and build on our tried-and-true methods.

This year, gains are expected to remain uneven across industries and U.S. regions. According to the 2022 Job Market Outlook from LaborIQ by ThinkWhy, the U.S. economy is projected to gain 3.6 million jobs in 2022, though there is not enough qualified talent to fill those open roles. Businesses are struggling to find and retain talent, and turnover is high as the great resignation sweeps the nation across all industries.

With over 17 offices across the nation, Ryan Companies continues to draw and retain top-tier talent in the construction industry. Here’s how:

1. Encouraging a collaborative environment. With the majority of the players in the commercial real estate arena focused on one piece of the industry, Ryan provides a unique approach with opportunities to collaborate within multiple sectors under one roof. Ryan is one of the nation's leading developers, designers, project managers, etc., providing the opportunity for employees to work within a highly collaborative environment. Our business model allows us to efficiently deliver for our clients without being siloed to one role on development projects.

2. Investing in employee development. With each sector of our company working in unison, employees have the opportunity to expand their knowledge and hands-on experience within multiple business units. We provide the opportunity for our employees to step out of their roles to test their skillset in other parts of the industry and learn from the best within each sector. Through a combination of intranet net-based individualized training, in-person group training and mentorship from senior staff, we ensure our team has the resources to grow and learn the skills they need to thrive.

3. Providing opportunities for growth. At Ryan, we invest in our talent and take interest in their career goals. We look for opportunities to grow our new and current employees within their roles, while providing a clear path within our organization to help them reach the next level in their careers.

We are continuing to focus on growing our business by hiring the right workers to complete our projects safely and to our highest standards, while maintaining the integrity of our company culture and values.

We look forward to finding the next generation of commercial construction and real estate professionals to join us at Ryan! View our open positions here.