Differences in Perspectives regarding Labor Productivity between Spanish- and English-Speaking Craft Workers
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 137, Issue 9
Abstract
The influx of Hispanic workers helped the U.S. construction industry alleviate its shortage of craft workers in the last decade. In 2009, Hispanics accounted for nearly a quarter (22.5%) of the construction workforce in the United States. However, no research has been conducted to examine how various factors influence Hispanic craft workers’ productivity. This paper analyzes the data from a nationwide survey to obtain craft workers’ perspective on construction productivity. The respondents were categorized as Spanish- or English-speaking workers according to their declared primary language, irrespective of their ethnic background. The findings reveal that Spanish- and English-speaking craft workers generally agreed on the priority of the factors affecting labor productivity. However, Spanish-speaking workers rated factors associated with supervisor direction, safety, and labor more severely than English-speaking craft workers. Meanwhile, English-speaking craft workers perceived factors related to engineering drawing management as being more detrimental to productivity than did Spanish-speaking craft workers. Specifically, in comparison with English-speaking craft workers, Spanish-speaking craft workers experienced more severe issues with communicating with their supervisors, pay and monetary bonus for good performance, and lack of training on safety, health, and skills. These findings should be valuable for project management to effectively improve labor productivity of their Spanish-speaking craft workforce.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors want to thank the Construction Industry Institute (CII) for the financial support as well as its member companies for their input in conducting this research. Without both contributions, this research would not have been possible. The authors wish to acknowledge the thousands of craft workers who participated in the research’s focus group and survey efforts. Finally, the authors also appreciate the valuable and constructive comments from reviewers. Their input help improve the quality of this paper.
References
Canales, A. R., et al. (2009). “Exploring training needs and development of construction language courses for American supervisors and Hispanic craft workers.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 135(5), 387–396.
Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR). (2007). The construction chart book: The U.S. construction industry and its workers, 4th Ed., Silver Spring, MD.
Construction Industry Institute (CII). (2006). “Work force view of construction labor productivity.” RR215-11, Austin, TX.
Dai, J. (2006). “A latent analysis and prototype system to manage jobsite factors impacting construction labor productivity.” Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.
Dai, J., Goodrum, P. M., and Maloney, W. F. (2009). “Construction craft workers’ perception of the factors affecting their productivity.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 135(3), 217–226.
FMI. (2007). “2007 contractor productivity survey results.” 〈www.fminet.com〉.
Goodrum, P. M. (2004). “Hispanic and non-Hispanic wage differentials: Implications for United States construction industry.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 130(4), 552–559.
Goodrum, P., and Dai, J. (2005). “Occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities: Differences among Hispanic and non-Hispanic construction workers.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 131(9), 1021–1028.
Hoover, K. (2002). “OSHA addresses increase in Hispanic worker fatalities.” New Mexico Business Weekly, 〈http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/03/11/story6.html〉 (Aug. 18, 2011).
Jaselskis, E. J., Strong, K. C., Aveiga, F., Canales, A. R., and Jahren, C. (2008). “Successful multi-national workforce integration program to improve construction site performance.” Saf. Sci., 46(4), 603–618.
Menzel, N. N., and Gutierrez, A. P. (2010). “Latino worker perceptions of construction risks.” Am. J. Ind. Med., 53(2), 179–187.
Moure-Eraso, R., and Friedman-Jimenez, G. (2003). “Occupational health among Latino workers: A needs assessment and recommended interventions.” Safety is seguridad: A workshop summary, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.
National Institute of Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH). (2008). “National construction agenda for occupational safety and health research and practice in the U.S. Construction sector.” National Occupational Research Agenda, 〈http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/comment/agendas/construction/pdfs/ConstOct2008.pdf〉 (Nov. 12, 2009).
National Research Council (NRC). (2008). Construction research at NIOSH: Reviews of research programs of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, National Academies, Washington, DC.
Pittman, J. (2003). “Language brings challenges, risks to construction industry.” San Jose Business Journal, 〈http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2003/04/14/focus2.html〉 (Aug. 18, 2011).
Richardson, S., Ruser, J., and Suarez, P. (2003). “Hispanic workers in the United States: An analysis of employment distributions, fatal occupational injuries, and non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses.” Safety is seguridad: A workshop summary, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.
Robertson, C. (2007). “FMI presents the 2008 U.S. construction overview.” 〈http://www.fminet.com/article/419〉 (Nov. 12, 2009).
Ryan, R. C., Martin, C. D., and Jenkins, J. L. (2008). “Continued study of Hispanic construction worker safety perspectives.” Associated Schools of Construction, Int. Proc. 44th Annual Conf., Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL, 〈http://ascpro0.ascweb.org/archives/cd/2008/paper/CPRT281002008.pdf〉.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). (2010). “Current population survey.” 〈http://dataferrett.census.gov/〉 (Mar. 10, 2010).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 137 • Issue 9 • September 2011
Pages: 689 - 697
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 16, 2010
Accepted: Nov 7, 2010
Published online: Dec 4, 2010
Published in print: Sep 1, 2011
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.