Home building, remodeling and the overall residential construction industry support many types of jobs. BLS data from the 2014 Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Survey, and NAHB analysis, provide a count of these occupation classes.
The OES survey defines employment as the number of workers who can be classified as full- or part-time employees. The following profile examines the Residential Building Construction industry group, which includes builders of for-sale and owner/contractor built single-family and multifamily housing, as well as residential remodelers.
Management jobs constituted approximately 9% of jobs in the residential construction industry, for a total of more than 55,700 positions. Office and administrative support made up the second largest category, which at more than 86,600 jobs represented 14% of sector employment. Sales staff made up about 5% of industry employment, with 55,700 positions. Business and finance occupations held 4% of industry employment at more than 30,100 jobs.
Other jobs in home building, generally representing about 6% in combination, include architects, lawyers, designers, building/grounds maintenance staff, security guards, drivers, and IT staff.
Not surprisingly, the largest share of home building/remodeling employment is concentrated in construction and extraction jobs. For 2014, more than 407,000 jobs were in such fields. The following chart provides a breakdown of these jobs.
Carpenters make up almost half of construction/extraction jobs (46%), for a total of more than 171,000 jobs in the home building and remodeling sectors. The OES defines carpenters as workers who construct, erect, install, or repair structures made of wood. This category also includes workers who install cabinets, drywall, siding, and insulation. Approximately 30% of all carpenters nationwide are employed by the residential building construction sector.
Rounding out the construction segment of industry employment are construction laborers, worksite supervisors, brickmasons, stonemasons, carpet/tile installers, cement masons, equipment operators, drywall installers, electricians, glaziers, insulation workers, painters, plumbers, plasters, rebar workers, roofers, sheet metal workers, and solar panel installers.
For an analysis of wage growth in the industry, see this prior post also using BLS OES data.
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Home building and remodeling are two rapidly developing branches. Of course, they are located on the top of the list. A lot of workers took part in the renovation of the houses. It requires a great variety of skills because the distinctions between the buildings can be enormous but this work is really creative and fascinating.
Thanks for giving us this useful information!
Thank you so much for such a well-written article.