Construction Management as a College Major (Part 4

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Last Updated: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 07:01 PM PST

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Construction Management as a College Major (Part 4 - Economic Impact)
By Dr. Bradford Sims Fri, 24 Dec 2004, 02:09 PST

As discussed in the earlier articles, the demand for Construction Management graduates is high with a national average starting salary of $42,232 as indicated in a CNN/Money article in early 2004 called �Most lucrative college degrees�. Why is this true, mostly due to the size of the construction industry and its huge economic impact on the United States and the rest of the world. Just in the US along, for every dollar spent on construction, 3 dollars is created economically.
According to Engineering News-Record Magazine, the world spent about $ 3.22 trillion on construction in 1998. Given estimates by such groups as the International Monetary Fund that the total gross domestic products of nations around the world is in the neighborhood of $32 trillion, that means that construction accounts for 10%of the world's economy.

The Department of Commerce estimates that The value of construction put in place in 2003 totaled $916 billion representing 8% of the nation�s gross domestic product (GDP).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are approximately 1.9 million construction companies in the U.S. 1.5 million are not incorporated (partnerships or proprietorships). 166,000-9.1%-are owned by minorities or women. 80% of construction firms have fewer than 10 employees, only 1% employ 100 or more and .1% of construction firms employ over 500 individuals.
Of the 116 million workers in the U.S., just over 6 Million, or 5.1% are employed in the construction industry. 1.6 million are self-employed workers. The construction industry is the second largest employer in the nation only to the U.S. Government, which includes the Armed Forces. All construction occupations projected job openings through 2012 is 2,548,000 or 15% and for Construction Managers it is 197,000 or 14.1%.

According to the Associated General Contractors of American, over the next ten years the demand for construction services will be astronomical. The United States will need to replace 375,000 bridges as part of $360 billion spent on roadwork. Mass transit will need $72 billion worth of construction. The nation's infrastructure will use $3.3 trillion in construction and related services. We will need to repair or renovate one out of three schools at a cost of $60 billion.

According to U.S. Department of Labor � Bureau of Labor Statistics and its State of the Construction Industry 2002 � 2012, construction is the only goods-producing sector in which employment is projected to grow. From June 2003 to June 2004 construction added 193,000 employees � nearly one out of seven new non-farming jobs.

With this market demand and the typical Construction Management college major taking courses such as construction law, construction finance, construction safety, scheduling, estimating, project management, human factors, labor relations, etc., it becomes obvious why the construction industry finds these graduates uniquely qualified to fill entry level field or office management positions.

About the Author:
Dr. Bradford Sims is the Construction Management Director at Western Carolina University. He has started both the on campus BS in CM and the online Master in Construction Management degree programs.

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