How Can You Deal with the High Turnover Rate in the Construction Industry?


If there is one thing that eats away at every construction company’s profits, it’s the high turnover rate prevalent throughout the industry. Turnover is when you need to replace an old employee with a new one. This can be due to either you firing the employee or them quitting their job. You may not realize it, but hiring an employee costs money. In fact, the average cost of hiring a new employee is around $4,000!

With this much money being wasted on hiring new employees, there must be a solution to help lower the high turnover rate that plagues the construction industry.

Is the Turnover Rate in the Construction Industry Really That Bad?

The construction industry has one of the highest turnover rates in any industry. Turnovers in the construction industry can cost the company up to 20% of the individual’s base pay. These costs include exit paperwork, re-hiring, loss of productivity, and possible loss of other workers.

Unfortunately, the loss of one worker puts stress and more of a workload onto other employees. Sometimes, this extra strain on the job causes other employees to end up quitting as well.

Ways to Limit High Turnover

While turnover is unavoidable, there are ways that you can decrease the amount of turnover in your company. There are various amounts of technology out there that can significantly improve and help your workers, which would make their jobs considerably more manageable.

There are drones that your workers can use to survey sites. This would cut down on the amount of time they would spend walking around the construction site.

Investing in your workers is another way to retain good workers. Ensure that you have the proper tools that are in good working order, as 26% of construction workers who quit reported that the only reason they left was due to a lack of proper tools.

Additionally, it is essential to provide training and allow them to grow within the company. This ability to grow will help workers feel like their work is meaningful to the company.

Making sure you have a compassionate management team also aids in ensuring that you retain employees by offering benefits and competitive pay. This one may not sound important, but honestly, something as simple as an employee appreciation party can make workers feel  they are valued.

Employees feel that if a company spends money and takes time out of their day to throw their workers a party, they care for their workers. It’s incredible how one small act of appreciation helps bolster the positivity of the work environment.

If you find yourself in need of construction labors, check out Skilled Trade Staffing for more information.