Your weekly dose of tech insight for Arizona's builders | Part 2 of our Workforce Series
Last week, we talked about the knowledge walking out the door with retiring workers. This week? Let’s talk about the talent you can’t afford to lose walking out because you’re not giving them a reason to stay.
Here’s a stat that should make every construction leader sit up: 45% of construction workers cite burnout as the #1 reason they leave the industry. Not better pay somewhere else. Not a career change. Burnout.
And it gets worse. A recent Clayco survey found that 64% of construction workers experienced depression or anxiety in the past year, up from 54% just one year prior. Meanwhile, you’re trying to attract Gen Z and Millennials into an industry that desperately needs them. The good news? They’re actually interested. Trade program enrollment jumped 23% recently, and the Wall Street Journal dubbed them the “Toolbelt Generation.”
The bad news? 35% of Gen Z workers say they’re planning to quit their jobs within the next year. For an industry already scrambling to fill 439,000 positions in 2025 alone, that’s a crisis. So the question isn’t just “how do we get them?” It’s “how do we keep them?”
What Actually Drives Them Away (It’s Not What You Think)
We hear a lot of assumptions about younger workers: they’re entitled, they don’t want to work hard, they job-hop for fun. Here’s what the data actually shows from Procore’s research and industry studies:
The Three Real Reasons They Leave:
- Burnout and Mental Health Issues (45%) Long hours, unpredictable schedules, and the inability to disconnect are crushing people. One study of a major construction site found the median worker lasted just 1.2 months before leaving. That’s not job hopping, that’s survival mode.
- No Clear Career Path (23%) “Do this same job for 40 years” doesn’t cut it anymore. They want to see: How do I become a foreman? A PM? An estimator? Can I eventually run my own crew or business? If you can’t answer that, they’ll find someone who can.
- Feeling Invisible (The Silent Killer) Here’s something from our 20+ years working with Arizona contractors: the best young workers don’t just want a paycheck. They want to know they matter. When they go above and beyond and nobody notices, they stop going above and beyond. Then they leave.
The Three C’s: What Younger Workers Actually Want
A project manager at Underground Construction nailed it when he identified what Gen Z and Millennials are looking for. He calls them the Three C’s:
- Culture (The Most Important)
If you don’t want to come to work every day, you’ll find somewhere else to work. Simple as that. What does a good culture look like in construction?
- People feel like they belong. Not just tolerated, welcomed. When your 24-year-old assistant PM feels comfortable asking questions without judgment, that’s culture.
- Mental health isn’t stigmatized. 83% of construction workers report struggling with mental health issues at some point. But construction has historically had a “tough it out” mentality. That’s changing and it needs to change faster.
- Open communication is the norm. Your field teams should feel comfortable raising concerns about schedule pressure, safety issues, or impossible expectations without fear of consequences.
We work with a contractor here in Arizona who implemented a simple policy: every project has a 10-minute daily check-in where team members can flag problems before they become emergencies. Retention went up. Stress went down. Projects stayed on schedule.
- Compensation (But Not How You Think)
Yes, competitive pay matters. But here’s what surprised us: it’s not all about hard dollars. According to research, younger workers weigh benefits differently:
- Paid family leave? Huge.
- Mental health counseling access? Game-changer.
- Flexible schedules (where possible)? More valuable than you’d think.
- Clear bonus structures tied to performance? Motivating.
One of our clients started offering mental health days as part of PTO. It cost them almost nothing but the retention impact was significant. Because it signaled: “We care about you as a human, not just a labor unit.”
- Communication or Control (The Generational Split)
Millennials crave feedback. They want to know: Where am I going? How am I getting there? What do I need to improve? That five-minute daily check-in we mentioned? That’s not just for catching problems. It’s for recognition. When your project engineer stays late to finalize submittals, and you acknowledge it the next morning, that matters. Gen Z wants slightly more independence but still needs the roadmap. They don’t want to be micromanaged, but they do want to understand the “why” behind decisions.
The solution? Structured communication with clear expectations. Not hand-holding, not abandonment, guidance.
The Burnout Crisis You Can’t Ignore
Let’s talk about the elephant on the jobsite: construction has a mental health crisis. According to the CDC, construction has the highest suicide rate of any industry, five times higher than the annual number of jobsite fatalities. Read that again. More construction workers die by suicide than die in accidents. And we spend millions on PPE and safety training (as we should), but often nothing on mental health support.
What burnout looks like in construction:
- Relentless overtime with no recovery time
- Impossible deadlines that pressure workers to cut corners
- Project switching that prevents any sense of stability
- Culture that treats asking for help as weakness
- No work-life balance (the job bleeds into everything)
What you can actually do about it: Make mental health resources accessible. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are great if people know about them and feel safe using them. 94% of survey respondents recognize the importance of sharing mental health resources, but only 25% of companies offer supervisor training on how to address mental health issues.
Set hard boundaries on hours. Yes, construction has crunches. But when crunch becomes permanent, people burn out. One contractor we know implemented a “no seven-day weeks” policy except for true emergencies. Productivity actually improved because people came to work rested.
Train your supervisors. 78% of construction managers report feeling comfortable discussing mental health, but 51% have never received training on how to actually do it. That’s a problem. Your supers need to know how to recognize burnout, have supportive conversations, and connect people to resources.
Normalize taking time off. If your culture punishes people for using PTO, they won’t. Then they’ll burn out. Then they’ll quit.
Career Pathways: Show Them the Future
Remember when we said 23% leave because of limited career advancement? Here’s how to fix that:
Map out actual career paths. Not vague “there are opportunities here” statements. Real paths: “You’re an assistant PM now. Here’s how you become a PM. Here’s what skills you need. Here’s the timeline. Here’s how we’ll help you get there.”
Create mentorship with structure. Pairing your retiring super with a young foreman is great, if you give them:
- Specific knowledge transfer goals
- Protected time that doesn’t get sacrificed to emergencies
- Two-way learning (your Gen Z hire teaches the super how to use that tablet)
Offer path to entrepreneurship. Many young workers have entrepreneurial ambitions. Instead of fearing they’ll leave to start their own business, use it as a retention tool: “Stay with us, learn how to run operations, estimating, client relationships and we’ll help you understand the business side.” One of our clients created an “entrepreneur track” where high performers could rotate through estimating, project management, and business development. Retention skyrocketed. Why? Because people saw a future.
Invest in upskilling. Procore research shows 47% of companies have upskilling programs, and 41% plan to implement them. Why does this matter? Because 60% of workers stay in construction specifically for career growth opportunities. Give them skills, and they’ll give you loyalty.
Get The Ball Rolling
Here are suggestions to get things started:
This Week: Talk to your three best young employees. Ask them directly: “What would make you want to stay here for the next five years?” Then listen. Really listen.
This Month: Audit your culture. Are you creating burnout or preventing it? Do people feel valued or just used? Is there a clear path forward or just vague promises?
This Quarter: Implement one concrete retention strategy:
- Career pathway documentation
- Mental health resource rollout
- Communication cadence with field teams
- Technology that actually makes jobs easier
The companies that figure this out will have a massive competitive advantage. While your competitors hemorrhage talent, you’ll be building a team that sticks around, grows, and eventually becomes the leadership that carries your company forward. The ones that don’t? They’ll keep wondering why they can’t keep good people.
You can’t solve a 439,000-worker shortage just by recruiting. You have to retain. And retention isn’t about ping-pong tables or free coffee. It’s about:
- Creating a culture where people want to show up
- Communicating clearly and often
- Showing them a future worth staying for
- Taking mental health seriously
- Using technology that empowers instead of frustrates
The good news? Unlike the retirement wave (which you can’t stop), retention is something you can actually control. The question is: will you?
Let’s Build Together!
Book a Free Productivity Consultation Review with our experts.
Computer Dimensions has been serving Arizona’s construction and AEC industry for over 20 years. We help builders implement technology that actually works for how construction teams operate, from knowledge management systems to field-ready mobile solutions. If you’re thinking about how technology can help you capture expertise and bridge generational gaps, let’s talk.
