Editor’s Note

If this feels like a conversation from a decade ago, that’s part of the problem. Labor productivity has been one of construction’s biggest challenges for years—but unlike other industries, we’ve made almost no progress. This post isn’t about rehashing an old issue. It’s about revisiting a problem we still haven’t solved—and the massive opportunity that’s still waiting on the table.

Introduction

In today’s construction economy, most firms are navigating higher wages, tighter deadlines, and a shrinking skilled workforce. But the most important metric in the entire equation—labor productivity—has barely moved.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction has experienced negative productivity growth over the past several decades. While nearly every other industry has figured out how to do more with less, construction is doing less with more—more labor, more cost, more complexity.

This isn’t because people aren’t trying. In fact, the last decade has brought a wave of improvements: more documentation tools, better communication platforms, and new ways to manage compliance and reporting. But here’s the truth: most of those gains have stayed at the administrative and supervisory levels.

The day-to-day work of building—what happens between laborers, materials, tools, and plans—has seen almost no meaningful productivity improvement. That’s not just a lagging metric. That’s the most valuable and overlooked opportunity in the industry.

It’s worth noting that not all technology has missed the mark. Over the last decade, advancements in tools, materials, and construction methods—from cordless equipment to modular systems—have helped improve physical output on the jobsite. But this post is focused specifically on information technology: the digital platforms and systems designed to manage labor, track work, and coordinate teams. And in that realm, the productivity impact has been far more limited—especially for the field workforce.

The Scale of the Opportunity

The U.S. construction industry generates over $2 trillion annually. Labor accounts for 30–50% of project costs. Yet productivity remains stagnant—and in many cases, is declining.

That math should alarm anyone running a project-based business. For a trade contractor doing $50 million in annual revenue, labor costs represent $15–25 million. Even a 5% productivity gain could return $750,000 to $1.25 million to the bottom line. And yet, most firms don’t have a plan for how to realize that gain.

This isn’t about working faster. It’s about aligning people, plans, and information in ways that increase useful output. And because the industry is still operating with outdated planning methods, underused data, and disconnected jobsite workflows, that 5% is sitting in plain sight—but rarely claimed.

A Decade of Attention, and Still No Breakthrough

It’s not like no one’s noticed. Industry conferences, white papers, and headlines have been calling out low productivity for years. But most of the focus has landed on what’s easy to digitize: documents, compliance, and communication.

Real productivity—the kind that moves drywall faster, sets forms more efficiently, or finishes work with fewer re-dos—has barely been touched by that wave of technology. Field laborers, who account for the majority of workforce hours and labor spend, are still operating with tools and workflows that haven’t fundamentally changed.

This is what makes the opportunity so powerful: it’s not hypothetical. It’s right there in the open. It’s measurable. And it’s still vastly under-addressed.

Conclusion: Labor Productivity Is Construction’s Next Frontier

The construction industry has spent the last decade digitizing its paperwork and streamlining communication—but the core production engine of the jobsite has remained largely untouched. The result: flat productivity, rising costs, and missed opportunities hiding in plain sight.

It’s time for a shift in mindset.

Labor productivity isn’t just a metric—it’s a strategic lever. It defines project outcomes, cost competitiveness, and long-term viability. And yet, it’s often treated as a byproduct of planning, not a focus in its own right.

The contractors who rethink how they manage labor—not just in the back office, but on the ground—will gain a lasting edge. Because the ability to do more with the team you already have isn’t just efficient. It’s transformative.

Next Steps

If you’re still managing labor the way you did five years ago, it’s worth asking: what has actually improved on your jobsites? What would it take to build a workforce strategy that drives real gains in productivity—not just on paper, but in the dirt?

The answers won’t come from doing more of the same.
They’ll come from looking at labor as a source of value—not just cost.

This is the first article in our series on workforce management in construction.