Hire Well, Keep Your Crew: Tips for 2027

More than eight in ten contractors lose at least some new field hires within their first 90 days. That finding, from a 2026 industry survey, says a lot about where the workforce challenge stands heading into 2027: hiring is only half the battle. The firms that hold on to their people hire carefully, treat the first 90 days as an investment and give crews real reasons to stay. Here’s how to build those habits.

Make Every Hire Count

Labor continues to be in short supply in construction. The 2026 Workforce Survey from the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and NCCER, released in September, found that 87 percent of firms have openings for hourly craft workers, and 88 percent of those firms say the positions are as hard or harder to fill than a year ago. As AGC’s analysis puts it, “softer construction demand has not translated into a broadly softer construction labor market.”

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) estimates the industry needed 349,000 net new workers in 2026 and projects roughly 456,000 in 2027 as spending growth picks back up. Still, ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman argues the challenges can be managed: “The construction industry does not have to fall off the workforce shortage cliff.”

1. Hire With Care, Even When You’re Busy

When work heats up, it’s tempting to ignore red flags and fill the slot. As Details, Details: Hiring Tips explains, small oversights, such as blanks on an application or vague answers about availability, often signal a poor fit. Keep these practices in place:

• Write a specific job description. Spell out hours, travel and physical demands, as recommended in Good Hiring Practices.
• Use the same questions and scoring rubric for every candidate. Consistency leads to better decisions and helps keep hiring fair and compliant.
• Widen the net. Nearly half of AGC respondents stepped up online recruiting, and nearly as many increased work with high schools, colleges and career-tech programs. You Can’t Do It Alone: Partner details how school and training partnerships can enhance your hiring efforts.
• Be ready to train. Half of AGC respondents say candidates lack needed skills or credentials, so hiring for attitude and training for skill widens your pool.

2. Treat the First 90 Days With Care

Early exits are often avoidable. In the AGC survey, 42 percent of firms say new hires fail to show up or quit soon after starting, and the most common reason for early departures is a gap between what workers expected and the reality of construction work.

Sink or Swim? Onboarding Please makes the case for taking onboarding seriously. And as Being The Boss: Tough and Caring? notes, the next generation of workers brings different expectations about leadership and development. To close the expectation gap, map out each new hire’s first 90 days:

Your new hire’s first 90 days: five touchpoints

• Before the offer: Arrange a jobsite visit or ride-along. Talk honestly about hours, travel and physical demands.
• Day 1: Hold a formal jobsite orientation and safety training. Introduce the mentor who will be their go-to person.
• Week 1: Do a first check-in and ask what’s different from what they expected. Fix gear, schedule or travel problems early.
• Month 1: Have the supervisor check in on progress and fit. The mentor and new hire trade feedback both ways.
• Month 3: Hold a 90-day review of skills gained and goals for the next stage. Point to a path: credentials, cross-training and lead roles.

Two habits make the plan stick:

• Pair each new hire with a mentor. An experienced crew member gives newcomers a go-to person from the start.
• Coach your veterans. Seasoned but jaded crew members can make life hard for newcomers; make clear that welcoming new people is part of the job.

3. Give People Reasons to Stay

As Pay and Incentives: What Works Best? points out, gimmicks such as splashy seasonal events won’t buy loyalty. Recognition, growth and safety do the heavy lifting.

• Pay competitively, and reward results. AGC found 55 percent of firms raised hourly craft pay by more than they did a year earlier. Bonuses tied to clear goals, such as jobs finished on budget and without accidents, beat a surprise holiday check.
• Recognize people, not just projects, and ask workers what kind of appreciation matters to them, as Appreciation: Construction Workers suggests.
• Hold the line on safety. Tolerating shortcuts sends your best workers out the door.

Structured mentorship can turn retention around. When Chamberlin Roofing and Waterproofing faced retention struggles in 2022, only about one in four new hires was still there a year later, according to an NCCER case study. The company paired promising employees with experienced mentors and a formal path to foreman. Of those who completed the training over the past two years, 91 percent are still with the company. As training director Bradley Rowan put it, “we’re able to upskill people in a year instead of what would normally take five.”

NCCER President and CEO Boyd Worsham sums up the bigger picture: “it is critical that the industry takes a holistic approach to workforce development.”

Good To Know

• Electricians topped AGC’s 2026 list of hardest-to-fill crafts, cited by 81 percent of firms with openings. If you need them, start recruiting early.
• Your data holds clues about what you may need to do differently. Track your own numbers: early quits, time to hire and the reasons people leave.

Time To Team Up?

Crews stay where the work is. Steady bonding capacity lets you bid with confidence and keep good people busy year-round, which may be the strongest retention tool of all. 

For bonds up to $500K, Colonial Surety’s Hometown Bond Program is a credit-based option for contractors who are newer to bonds or need them occasionally.

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