Changing Perspective

Understanding employee perspective proves key to solving industry's persistent workforce challenges.

As it is nearly every year, digging through the stats gathered in the Green Industry Outlook survey was extremely interesting. It’s no surprise, though, that one of the biggest challenges for most contractors remains finding and retaining enough labor. For most everyone, it was one of the key factors that correlated with how much your company grew in the past year.

A growing number of contractors are reporting being able to find enough workers in their region for their needs, this year more than any other that the survey’s been running. That’s great news for the industry, and the model set by those who are finding enough workers can be instructive.

Taking into account the results from companies that say they’re finding enough workers this year, we can see a few trends from the potential employee’s point of view. Employees tended to go for established companies that have been around for at least five years, and also for larger companies of more than 10 employees. Both of those make sense as they tie to branding and reach.


Before generally saying that people just don’t want to work, think about the situation from an employee’s perspective.


Employees tended to join companies where the workforce was already more diverse by race, ethnicity and gender. It’s easier to see yourself fitting into an organization when you already see others like yourself working there.

Wages for labor count as one of biggest expenses for contractors year over year. It’s expensive to acquire, train and maintain employees, especially when margins can be so thin and it can be easy for an employee to no-show. Before generally saying that people just don’t want to work, think about the situation from an employee’s perspective. The majority of contractors start new crew members at $18-$20 an hour. That’s not a small amount of money. But if you happen to be the sole earner for a family of four, making $37,000 a year (assuming that they’re working full-time, all year, which is not always the case) means that you’re a couple medical bills or a serious car accident away from the 2024 U.S. poverty line ($31,200). If you have additional mouths to feed, does it make sense to take on one of the most physically challenging jobs available just to be very slightly ahead of poverty? Or would you prioritize work in other fields that provides better for your family that isn’t sometimes dependent on weather or new home construction rates?

This is another reason why it’s so important to show new recruits the possibility of a career and a future of better earning potential from the first day. If new crew members see a path forward, they’re more likely to join up and stick around. You don’t have to take my word for that, either; it’s been a consistent stat in the survey year over year that companies reporting finding enough workers are around 20% more likely to offer career planning or a mentorship program.

Finding good employees and keeping them can be expensive and challenging, but remember that the deal has to make sense for the prospective employee as well. Show potential recruits opportunity and a path forward in this industry.

Kyle Brown is editor-in-chief of Irrigation & Lighting magazine and can be reached via email.

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