08/19/2026
Construction needs to attract 349,000 new workers in 2026.
That's the Associated Builders and Contractors forecast, and the majority of that demand traces to retirements rather than growth. The experience is walking out the gate.
Recruiting matters. Fund the programs, show up at the schools. SC&RF themed its whole 40th year around workforce for a reason.
But be honest about what happens when a good candidate walks through the shop. If the plan to win them runs on paper tickets, a whiteboard, and technology that existed when their parents were dating, do you think you're going to have an easier time?
And the pile of apps most shops bought to replace the paper made its own friction. One for timecards, one for forms, one for dispatch, none of it designed for how your company runs. Four days of training on every new tool before a hire ever touches the work they signed up for. Then we act surprised when they leave.
Here's what the number means operationally. When people are scarce, every crew hour you have is worth more, and readiness and clean handoffs decide how many of those hours become finished work. A crew that rolls with current certs, the lift plan, and a work order that matches the job produces like a bigger crew.
The companies winning the labor fight treat the tools their people carry the way they treat their iron: maintained, fit for the work, chosen for the person in the seat. A good operator reads that from across the yard.
That friction is removable. It's why Ribbiot exists: forms, work orders, employee and equipment certifications, and job documents shaped to how each company runs, per company, even per location, so a new hire learns one tool built for them and gets on with the trade.
The market decides how many people you can hire this year. You decide what it feels like to work for you.
Honest count: how many apps does a new hire at your company have to learn in week one?
