承包商对2022年感到乐观infrastructure projectsand expected increased private-sector investment for healthcare and warehouses, even as workforce and supply chain issues remain as likely challenges for the industry, say survey results released by the Associated General Contractors of America and construction technology company Sage on Jan. 12.

Theconstruction outlook surveyof more than 1,000 AGC members showed that contractors are expecting dollar value of projects across most building segments will increase this year, with the most optimism around bridge and highway construction, plus other transportation projects. That was a big turnaround from the AGC surveya year earlier,当大多数受访者预测几乎所有类别的下降时。更多受访者预计今年有所下降的市场细分市场是零售和办公空间项目。18luck官网AGC首席执行官Stephen Sandherr说，承包商正计划投资自己的增长。

他说：“在经历了艰难的2021年之后，承包商对2022年的期望很高。”“他们预计对广泛建筑市场细分市场的需求不断增长。他们计划增加员工的成员，并投资新技术。”

More than half of surveyed firms’ business volume matches or exceeds where they were a year ago. Then, only a third of contractors surveyed said business met levels from another year prior. The number of respondents who had projects postponed in 2021 was also down compared to a year earlier. Forty-six percent said they’d had projects postponed but rescheduled and 32% said they’d had projects not yet rescheduled, compared to 59% with projects postponed and rescheduled in 2020 and 54% with projects that had not been rescheduled as of that year’s survey. In 2021, 35% of surveyed contractors said they hadn’t had any projects postponed or canceled.

Chris Stanton, vice president for pre-construction at Kansas City, Mo.-based McCownGordon, says the current environment has complicated the construction industry, necessitating that professionals follow economists and global happenings to understand what’s going on and how it will affect their firms.

他说：“这不仅仅是建筑。”“施工似乎现在很容易。一切，采购，了解Covid发生了什么，疫苗接种，客户请求发生了什么，请确保我们遵守这些和政府的要求。”

Rising costs were the most common reason for projects to be postponed or canceled in 2021, and material costs were the most commonly identified biggest concern for 2022, followed by supply chain disruptions, the pandemic’s continuing impact and worker shortages, the survey results show.

只有10％的受访者表示他们没有遇到任何重大供应链问题。为了处理供应链问题，超过六分之一的人表示，他们已经转向替代供应商并在赢得合同后加速购买。近一半也指定了替代材料。但是，有一些迹象表明，北卡罗来纳州CT Wilson Construction总裁查理·威尔逊（Charlie Wilson）表示，一些供应链问题可能正在改善。

“On the roof insulation I ordered last week, the first thing I got was, we’re going to get it in the fall of this year. And now it’s been moved up to June,” he says. “So I think there’s been a little bit of an overreaction of people not wanting to over-promise. But when you actually sign the purchase order and start doing submittals, things are starting to improve as far as lead times.”

绝大多数的受访者表示,他们预期increase their headcount this year, with nearly half expecting to increase their staffing by up to 10%, and more than a quarter expecting greater staffing increases. However, 86% of respondents said they’re having a hard time filling craft positions, and most said they expect it will continue to be hard – or even become more difficult – to hire this year.

While AGC encourages vaccination against COVID-19, Sandherr says the Biden administration’s coronavirus vaccine mandates for federal contractors and for companies with 100 or more employees will likely add to hiring challenges, especially for larger firms. More than 60% of construction workers are employed by companies with under 100 employees, he says.

“Given how many firms are currently looking to hire, this means that many vaccine-hesitant workers will be able to switch jobs instead of taking a shot they have already resisted for a year,” Sandherr says.

Sandherr adds that he hopes officials will help the industry by boosting workforce development, avoiding adding “imposing new and needless regulatory burdens” and appropriating funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.