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American blue collar workers are full of signs of a strengthening job market.
A homebuilder in the Orlando, Florida area is looking to add four construction workers to a six-person team amid rising housing demand during the pandemic. In Atlanta, a forklift driver pays overtime because the warehouse he employs is so busy delivering packages. A Chicago-based truck-trailer maker is holding more and more drive-thru job fairs and is increasing wages by up to 7% as hiring increases at its nine production plants.
Nationwide, employment in residential construction, parcel delivery and warehousing is now exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Manufacturers have steadily added jobs after slashing payrolls last spring, although employment remains down about 5% from February 2020, according to data from the Ministry of Labor. Job openings in many blue-collar occupations exceeded pre-virus levels last summer and remain significantly high, according to figures from online job site Indeed.
The strength of housing and e-commerce during the pandemic helped boost hiring into blue-collar jobs hit hard by previous recessions. Many economists and businesses expect blue-collar jobs to continue to grow, but at a slower rate, once the coronavirus is under control. They predict that the main factors driving employer demand for blue-collar workers – a rapid recovery in online orders and a buoyant real estate market – will largely remain even after the widespread distribution of vaccines and the transfer of some of their workers. spending from goods to services.
“The demand for workers will not decrease,” said David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. “We will always need good storage. We will continue to see strong demand in the construction sector, particularly housing. “
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