By Kassidy Arena, Nebraska Public Media News
Nebraska-Construction workers have expressed concern over potential tariff increases and workforce shortages in 2025.
Nebraska firms surveyed in the annual report from the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) said the biggest worries are around an expected economic slowdown, lack of skilled labor, high financing and material costs.
“I see us still struggling to get labor for quite a while,” said Andy Heitmann of Turner Construction in Kansas City. “So that’s kind of where I see Kansas City, and that’s truthfully, around the north central region as well, whether Denver, St. Louis, Des Moines, Omaha.”
A total of 64% of construction firms surveyed in Nebraska said they are having a hard time filling some or all positions.
Construction work largely relies upon the immigrant workforce, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
“There’s definitely some, some call it fear, in the market, among the workforce because we do have a largely, call it, immigrant workforce,” said Rex Kirby, president of Verdex Construction in Florida. “They’ll ask our teams in the field frequently, ‘Hey, what’s going to happen here? Are they going to try to send me home?’ And of course, we’re saying, ‘No, they’re not, as long as you’re not a felon.'”
AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson said concerns are prevalent among builders in the U.S. following president-elect Trump’s promises of tariffs and deportations.
Trump posted on social media that he would impose a tax up to 25% on all imports from Mexico and China, which Simonson said the industry is not looking forward to.
“I think this year of calm that we’ve seen may be about to end, and certainly will if we get widespread tariffs,” Simonson said.
Construction firms said these costs could be passed on to consumers if implemented.
Also high on the list of concerns was increased competition for projects.
Survey results also show the value of Nebraska infrastructure projects is expected to increase from last year for hospitals and health care, and decrease in almost every other type of project including transportation, education and residential.
“We do work really hard to look at other alternatives. I think people, construction companies, designers, do get creative and try to look at different avenues or different materials and things like that, but there is no doubt that [a tariff] does have an impact on the cost of construction,” Heitmann said. “And if the cost of construction gets to a point that building something doesn’t pencil from an economic standpoint, it can certainly shut down a job, or we might have some work not even start because of the cost of that construction.”
It’s not all challenges foreseen for 2025. In a pre-recorded video, AGC CEO Jeffrey Shoaf said many construction workers are looking forward to technological innovations.
“There is some good news on the productivity side, AI and more use of technology in construction is something that they’re looking at to increase efficiency in the industry,” he said. “You also see that on the demand side, as some of that additional technology, and AI in particular, are driving some of the markets, like data center construction.”
Nebraska firms plan to use technology mainly in the daily field work, project report access and employee time tracking.
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