With funding and support from the Foundation of the Wall and Ceiling Industry, the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (AWCI) partnered with FMI to conduct a comprehensive survey and analysis of industry trends. The findings provide market insights that enable companies in the wall and ceiling industry to think strategically about the market and their businesses.
The goal of the survey was to:
- Gauge AWCI member companies’ near-term sentiments on the performance of the overall economy, the construction industry and their businesses
- Explore areas of increasing importance and strategic priorities for their companies
- Determine top concerns among contractors, manufacturers and suppliers
- Assess member companies’ sentiments on the competitive landscape, current issues and business operations
“This report will be a valuable resource for our industry, as companies consider their business planning. The Foundation was honored to support this important initiative,” says Peter Wilhelms, Foundation president.
Some of the key findings include areas of segment demand, labor challenges and project delivery concerns. A majority of respondents anticipate that data centers and health-care facilities will experience favorable growth into 2025. An increasingly remote workforce, growing digital storage and AI processing are fueling the demand for data centers. The aging population and need for outpatient facilities are driving new projects in health care.
With a critical shortage in skilled labor and field management roles in the workforce for the past 18 months, 46% of contractors believe it will remain the same and only 28% anticipate improvement. The roles in most pressing need include skilled crafts/trades, field management, estimators/project managers and general labor. For both contractors and manufacturers, supply-chain disruptions have the most bearing on operations. Strategically, contractors plan to increase their volume of work with existing customers, while manufacturers and suppliers plan to expand product offerings and services.
“Moving forward with regular industry trend reports such as this, AWCI will be able to gauge changes in member sentiment and help determine potential implications to the wall and ceiling industry,” says Michael F. Stark, CAE, AWCI CEO.
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Learn more about this report on the FREE on-demand webinar, presented by Paul Trombitas, partner, FMI.