Projects up, layoffs down in construction industry

The 2012 Construction Hiring and Business Outlook, released recently by the Associated General Contractors, found that feelings regarding the future of construction management will be mixed for the coming year. In fact, most of the 1,300 firms surveyed by the AGC said that the sector will not see a full recovery until at least 2013.

"Most of them are saying they feel we've hit bottom, and it's going to be a slow increase this year," Bill Caton of the Associated General Contractors of Alabama told The Birmingham News. "But we've got a long way to go before we're back to where we were four years ago when the recession hit."

However, some positive trends are blooming in the new year. According to the annual AGC study, the private sector construction market looks to be improving, particularly in power, hospital and higher education projects.

Additionally, employment in the construction industry is set to improve in 2012. The outlook reports that 32 percent of construction firms plan to add staff this year, while only 9 percent plan to cut their workforces. At the start of 2011, these figures stood at 34 percent and 37 percent, respectively. Of the firms cutting staff in 2012, 91 percent estimate that their layoffs will include 15 or fewer positions.