Seventy-two percent of construction companies report annual losses of up to five percent due to workforce absenteeism. This finding comes from a study conducted by the Association of Builders and Developers (AECP). The survey included one hundred companies with diverse profiles to ensure Las Palmas serves as a representative sample for the sector.
“The five percent cost of payroll in a region where profit margins are narrow has a sizable negative impact that calls for urgent action”, stated AECP president María Cheers Gil.
Additionally, twenty-three percent of firms say the cost of sick leave reaches ten percent of turnover, and five percent report levels above ten percent. The study highlights the serious impact of absenteeism and a shortage of skilled labor on a key industry within the Canary Islands economy.
“Productivity and the contribution to the Canary Islands’ GDP are among our concerns. Our organization is scrutinizing its structures to reduce losses and become more competitive while strengthening its presence. We have previously analyzed strengths and weaknesses, and it was essential to evaluate how absenteeism and productivity affected invoicing, project handling, and the role of a skilled workforce. This approach will help us propose improvements based on the available data”, explained AECP president María Salud Gil.
Currently, eighty-two percent of companies reported average absenteeism levels of up to ten percent, while the remaining eighteen percent saw cancellations rise to twenty-five percent. These figures led to forty-two percent of surveyed construction firms experiencing project delays, with forty-one percent even halting bidding at least once.
Personnel profile and female presence
The survey also covers the age distribution of teams. In fifty-six percent of firms, most employees are aged between forty-five and fifty-five, while the remaining forty-four percent predominantly fall in the thirty-to-forty-five range. Those under thirty are not a dominant group in any company. “It stands out that the eighteen-to-thirty age bracket never reaches the average, hovering between zero and one percent, which reinforces concerns about an aging workforce”, Gil noted.
Regarding gender, the share of women in the industry rose from eight percent in 2020 to eleven percent in 2023. The study shows that seventy percent of surveyed companies employ women, with thirty-three percent having ten to twenty percent women on staff and twenty-eight percent reporting more than twenty percent. Notably, one in ten workers is a woman with a permanent contract, a rate twenty-one percent higher than in other productive sectors. Additionally, full-time women workers in construction reach seventy-four point three percent, six percentage points higher than in all sectors combined. “These numbers may be smaller, but they are climbing steadily with solid employment quality. Our work in this area is bearing fruit”, said the business representative.
Thirty percent of companies without women on staff align with micro-enterprises or highly specialized firms. Absence profiles show that ninety-one percent of sick leave affects workers aged thirty to fifty-five, mostly concentrated in the summer months (sixty-six percent) followed by winter (twenty-one percent). In terms of duration, three percent last more than a year, ten percent last six to twelve months, and twenty-three percent last one to six months. Among workers, eighty-four percent of absences involve essential site personnel, including four percent who are foremen and construction managers. When considering reasons, seventy-eight percent of sick leave relates to common illnesses awaiting diagnostic tests.
In response to this situation, sixty-three percent of companies have taken steps to reduce absenteeism. Measures include active listening to staff needs, flexible work arrangements, benefits and medical monitoring, health prevention, and training programs.
These actions align with sector-wide agreements, such as extra assistance, a focus on preventive culture and health, workplace visits and monitoring of working conditions on preventive matters, plus protocols around dismissal, temperature checks, and pension plans, as well as the development of professional careers, reconciliation initiatives, and salaries that compare favorably with other sectors.
Skilled workforce
On the topic of skilled labor, ninety-two percent of companies report recruitment challenges, leading seventy-two percent to experience delays and incur penalties and extra costs. The average number of unfilled job openings stands at twenty-five percent.
Due to these recruitment issues, sixty-two percent of surveyed firms estimate the impact on their annual turnover at nearly ten percent (nine point twenty-four percent).