For decades, contractors have complained about the skilled labor shortage, and by all accounts, it’s just getting worse. At last year’s AHR Expo, the late Rob Falke, who was the president of National Comfort Institute, offered a sober assessment of the technician shortage.
“Today, HVAC technicians in the U.S. number about 290,000, and there are approximately 110,000 unfilled HVAC technician jobs,” he said. “That's 38% short of the numbers we need to fill our workforce. In addition, 8% — or a net loss of 23,000 people — are leaving our industry each year. That net loss includes people who are coming in to take other people's places. In just five years, there will be the existing 110,000 shortage, plus 23,000 leaving per year, which means we’ll be 225,000 people short to fill the jobs and demands we have today. Essentially, there will be 1.8 jobs available for every willing technician.”