In oil booming towns in North
Dakota, Texas, and Colorado there is shortage of construction workers. This is
because oil companies are paying construction workers a substantial amount more
to work for them than their normal construction jobs. Construction managers are having trouble
building houses and completing projects because as soon as they get a full crew
they lose most of them to the oil companies in a couple of weeks. This is harming the towns because it raises the standard of living.
Since the construction crews cannot build houses on time there are fewer to go
around to the booming towns, causing rent to increase a great deal. Another
threat looms in the future because Mexico just privatized its oil industry and
will need skilled laborers to help build it up. A good amount of construction
jobs come from Mexico, this will further hurt the construction industry and
raise the standard of living even higher in the booming oil towns.
The problem here is clearly complex. Without enough builders, homes are not being build quickly enough. Not only is big oil drawing people in from other states to states such as North Dakota, which causes a need for new homes, but the construction workers who are able to build those homes are being taken by the oil companies. It's clearly causing a detriment. Big oil, while able to provide jobs and some security, is having significant negative effects on the housing industry, not to mention the environmental and social neglect it is causing. I hope that as alternative fuel sources become more and more available, oil will lose friction, and jobs will be restored to the construction industry and other sectors.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting matter, and definitely a concern. Raising rent prices are going to make it hard for the construction workers to find places to live. Also, if these states are planning on bringing in construction workers from other states to help build more homes they are going to have trouble living with low wages and high rent costs. It would definitely be smart for the government to give tax breaks to developers so that they can produce homes more effectively and still turn a profit. Then the construction industry will begin to recover and workers will shift back from the oil industry.
ReplyDeleteThis makes sense because everyone is working for money to support their family or themselves so if I was a worker I would move to oil for better pay with the same amount of work. This does hurt the standard of living though but can open up more jobs in this industry of construction. Other states where construction workers may not work a lot due to too many construction workers could move to places like Texas to replace the ones who moved.
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