<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The construction labor is crucial to the construction industry, which is known globally for its creation of jobs at different skill and professional levels. The world's construction industry is currently experiencing a rapid recovery after the 2008 global crisis. This positive growth is also noticeable in Croatia. Nevertheless, the industry is experiencing a considerable shortage of skilled labor. First, this paper investigates the main causes of the current condition of the labor market through an extensive literature review and construction market analysis. Second, the case study of the Croatian construction labor market is presented. The longitudinal study of official statistical data shows that the total number of workers employed over the last 10 years has decreased significantly. There has been an increase in the number of unskilled workers and a decrease in the number of all other types of workers between 2016 and 2017. Following the literature review and market analysis, the response strategies for the problem of labor shortage in Croatian construction are provided and discussed.</p></abstract>

The construction labor is crucial to the construction industry, which is known globally for its creation of jobs at different skill and professional levels. The world's construction industry is currently experiencing a rapid recovery after the 2008 global crisis. This positive growth is also noticeable in Croatia. Nevertheless, the industry is experiencing a considerable shortage of skilled labor. First, this paper investigates the main causes of the current condition of the labor market through an extensive literature review and construction market analysis. Second, the case study of the Croatian construction labor market is presented. The longitudinal study of official statistical data shows that the total number of workers employed over the last 10 years has decreased significantly. There has been an increase in the number of unskilled workers and a decrease in the number of all other types of workers between 2016 and 2017. Following the literature review and market analysis, the response strategies for the problem of labor shortage in Croatian construction are provided and discussed.

Construction labor and skill shortages in Croatia: causes and response strategies

Organization, Technology and Management in Construction: an International Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The construction labor is crucial to the construction industry, which is known globally for its creation of jobs at different skill and professional levels....

Construction labor and skill shortages in Croatia: causes and response strategies

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Jun 22, 2020

Page range: 2232 - 2244

Received: Mar 30, 2020

Accepted: Apr 20, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/otmcj-2020-0019

Keywords
construction labor, labor shortage, skill shortage, Croatian construction industry, Croatian labor market

© 2020 Anita Ceric et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Construction labor and skill shortages in Croatia: causes and response strategies

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Jun 22, 2020

Page range: 2232 - 2244

Received: Mar 30, 2020

Accepted: Apr 20, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/otmcj-2020-0019

Keywordsconstruction labor, labor shortage, skill shortage, Croatian construction industry, Croatian labor market

© 2020 Anita Ceric et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
construction labor, labor shortage, skill shortage, Croatian construction industry, Croatian labor market