Survey launched to boost Puerto Rico’s construction workforce
To comply with Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi’s policy to strengthen workforce participation in the construction industry, Manuel Laboy, executive director of the island’s Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3); and Gabriel Maldonado-González, secretary of the Labor and Human Resources Department, recently announced the launch of a survey targeting employers in this sector.
“We urge companies in the construction sector to complete the survey that we recently shared via email with the organizations representing this guild,” Laboy said. “The results will help us to identify the challenges and situations they currently face. Based on this information, a joint action plan will be developed by the Labor Department and COR3 to increase the recruitment of skilled personnel needed for the reconstruction projects on our island.”
According to statistics from the Nonfarm Payroll Employment Survey conducted by the Labor Department with the federal government, there are 37,000 active jobs in the construction sector, the highest since 2009. However, at least an additional 30,000 workers are estimated to be needed for reconstruction projects in Puerto Rico.
“In line with the progress in the reconstruction process, we have added nearly 9,000 additional jobs in the construction sector over the past three years,” Maldonado-González said. “However, there is an urgent need for more workers to support the thousands of ongoing projects. Our latest partnership with COR3 aims to gather vital information about the current landscape of private sector contractors regarding their human resources, to continue developing strategies and initiatives together that will increase the number of people in the workforce, train them and place them in various trades within the construction sector.”
Currently, municipalities, government agencies and nonprofit organizations are working on 8,076 permanent projects, of which 2,930 are in the construction phase, according to the Quarterly Progress Report (QPR) covering July to September 2023.
“The trend in these quarterly reports shows a steady increase in projects in the construction stage, and with this initiative, we continue working alongside the private sector to find viable alternatives to attract the necessary workers,” Laboy said. “These efforts are established as part of a collaborative agreement that COR3 established with the Labor Department, with the commitment to address the labor challenges in the construction sector to promote personnel hiring and ensure compliance with the regulations of the Puerto Rico Occupational Safety and Health Administration (PROSHA.)”
