Affordable workforce housing is the backbone of thriving communities. It enables teachers, healthcare workers, first responders, and other essential professionals to live near the places they serve. To make workforce housing more affordable we need to continue to find innovations across four housing production opportunities that reduce the time and cost to build, including: products, design, and assembly; financing and funding; regulations and policy; and labor workforce and human capital. Out of these four quadrants, arguably the one that gets overlooked the most is the need for labor and skilled construction workers.
The demand for affordable housing has never been greater, yet we face a significant challenge—a shortage of trained workers to build it. As we covered in a previous blog post, one primary reason is that the construction workforce is aging (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average age of a construction worker is 42.5 years old) and retiring at a rate that is outpacing the entrance of new, younger workers. The Portland metro area significantly trails the nation in construction job growth. The Portland Business Journal recently highlighted this with an article titled, “Portland posts nation’s third-worst construction sector jobs growth figure in 2024.” According to the article and data from the Associated General Contractors, the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area lost 4,200 construction jobs last year, placing it in the bottom three of the 50 largest metro areas – only Sacramento and New York fared worse.
We have long talked about the need to double Oregon’s housing production. We are at a deficit of 140,000 units in this state. Although Governor Kotek has made housing production a priority, calling for the addition of 36,000 units per year, Oregon only granted 12,000 permits last year. Additionally, housing costs are on the rise, driven by raw materials, financing, and labor costs. To make housing more affordable, we need to find innovations across ALL four quadrants and stack them on top of each other. Programs and opportunities that address the development of our construction workforce are just as important as the housing construction methods themselves.
Innovations in this area are emerging across Oregon, and they continue to be top of mind in the communities we serve. Organizations suchas Worksource Oregon and East Cascades Works are connecting new workers with training and opportunities; schools such as Central Oregon Community College are creating more educational and hands on training programs in partnership with employers like Meta and Fortis Construction; and organizations like Constructing Hope are helping to expand the potential talent pool to train and support low income individuals, formerly incarcerated individuals, and people of color.
Investing in skilled labor is key. It’s not just about filling jobs; it’s about creating a workforce that can meet the growing demand for sustainable, high-quality, and affordable housing. Apprenticeships, training programs, and partnerships with local schools and trade organizations can make a huge difference in equipping workers with the skills they need. When we innovate to create a broader, more skilled workforce we will be better equipped to tackle our housing deficit. Let’s prioritize workforce development and write a new headline for Portland’s resurgence in expanding our skilled labor base to build more affordable workforce housing solutions.
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