COVID-19 Effects on Construction Industry

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted a wide variety of industries including construction management. The scope and magnitude of these effects may vary based on geographic location and section of industry. Our motivation to conduct a research study, by collecting the industry professionals' opinions and feedback about COVID-19 impacts on construction, was derived from the growing uncertainty caused by the pandemic. The objectives of the survey are to measure how the industry has been affected by the pandemic and investigate if the outbreak would affect the future of construction industry. The survey was sent out to approximately one thousand professionals working in different sections of the industry across the United States, and 83 responses were collected in late 2020 and early 2021. The results of the survey suggest that economic uncertainty, safety, and communications are the worst challenges that the construction industry faced so far due to the pandemic. Industry professionals identified cancellation or delay of contracts and supply chain shortages as the main negative impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on the construction. Currently, the construction industry is experiencing a sharp recovery while suffering from supply chain disruptions, skilled labor shortages, escalating inflation rate, and higher risk of COVID-19 infections compared to other industries due to the lower vaccination rate. This study shows that the pandemic had a silver lining that forced construction companies to adoption of new technologies and increasing the productivity rate. It provides new opportunities to build more manufacturing and warehouses within the states, and create more domestic job opportunities while avoiding uncertainty associated with outsourcing. This research provides academia with insight to better prepare new generation for upcoming changes and have these new technologies and trends included in the curriculum. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.