A recent report indicates that New York has not fully regained its construction jobs lost during the pandemic shutdown, primarily due to a dwindling demand for office spaces.
The state currently has 16,300 fewer construction jobs, representing a 4% decrease compared to the period before the Covid-19 outbreak. This places New York among the states with the slowest recovery rates. The findings were highlighted by the office of Secretary Tom DiNapoli.
“Although spending on home construction has bounced back since the pandemic, non-residential construction, especially in New York City, seems unlikely to recover soon,” DiNapoli remarked.
It’s worth noting that the construction sector might have reached pre-pandemic levels without the significant downturn in New York City, which observed an 11.3% drop in construction employment last year.
Additionally, the number of construction firms decreased by 3% in 2024, marking the first decline since 2011, according to the report.
During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, non-residential construction saw a staggering 43% drop, as reported by the New York Building Congress, a construction trade organization. Demand still hasn’t recovered to the levels seen in 2019.
The study from DiNapoli’s office highlights that New York stands out among five states that have yet to recover from job losses in the construction industry stemming from the pandemic’s aftermath.
“While there’s been some improvement in non-residential construction, it’s still greatly influenced by remote work trends,” the report noted.
In addition to remote work dynamics affecting the office construction market, the report pointed out that the immigration policies under former President Trump could have implications for the construction workforce and active projects.
In 2023, immigrants constituted 61% of construction employment within the city, a significantly higher percentage compared to both the state and other regions across the country.
