Massachusetts warns skilled labor shortfall
- A Massachusetts editorial said the state’s housing push is colliding with a shortage of electricians, plumbers, carpenters and roofers needed to build new homes. - State housing planners say Massachusetts needs at least 222,000 more year-round homes by 2035, while builders warn aging trades workers are slowing projects. - The labor squeeze is hitting housing just as Massachusetts rolls out its 2024 Affordable Homes Act and broader production agenda. (mass.gov)
Massachusetts says it needs far more housing, but it is short on the skilled workers needed to build it. (mass.gov) (sentinelandenterprise.com) A Sentinel & Enterprise editorial published April 26 said the state faces a “dual housing crisis”: too few affordable homes and too few trades workers on job sites. It pointed to shortages in carpentry, plumbing, electrical and roofing work. (sentinelandenterprise.com) The state’s own housing demand analysis says Massachusetts needs to add at least 222,000 homes to its year-round housing stock from 2025 to 2035 to close the current shortfall and meet future need. That estimate comes from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. (mass.gov) Governor Maura Healey signed the Affordable Homes Act on August 6, 2024. The law authorizes $5.16 billion over five years and pairs that spending with policy changes meant to speed housing production. (mass.gov) (malegislature.gov) That means the bottleneck is no longer only land, zoning or financing. Even when projects win approvals, builders still need licensed and experienced crews to frame walls, wire units, pour foundations and finish interiors. (mass.gov) (sentinelandenterprise.com) A 2025 MassINC report said Massachusetts will have to grow training capacity in the skilled building trades if it wants to meet long-term housing and clean-energy targets. The report also said construction output has been falling for several years. (massinc.org) The state’s Unlocking Housing Production Commission also treated workforce development as part of the housing fix. Its February 2025 report grouped workforce initiatives alongside zoning, code and infrastructure changes. (mass.gov) The pressure is not unique to Massachusetts. Associated Builders and Contractors said in January that the U.S. construction industry needs 349,000 net new workers in 2026, while the Home Builders Institute said skilled-labor shortages are costing homebuilding about $10.8 billion a year and roughly 19,000 lost single-family homes. (abc.org) (hbi.org) Chicago offers a current example of how labor supply can tighten further. The Chicago Sun-Times reported April 25 that immigration raids were disrupting crews in roofing, framing, concrete and landscaping, and said 83,522 construction workers in the Chicago area are foreign-born, or 32.5% of that workforce. (chicago.suntimes.com) For Massachusetts, the practical effect is slower schedules and higher bids on work that depends on scarce crews, especially for labor-intensive trades. The state has already set the housing target; the harder part is finding enough people to build it. (sentinelandenterprise.com) (mass.gov)
