Long Island construction jobs drop amid zoning, labor strain

From August of 2024 through this past summer, nearly 5,000 jobs were lost in construction on Long Island. While this decline mostly mirrors a nationwide drop in construction hiring, some industry experts say the precipitous downturn in our area is linked to a few key causes.

For years, business leaders have decried local zoning laws they believe to be too draconian to facilitate construction activity and, subsequently, hiring in building trades.

“Long Island has some of the most restrictive and inconsistent zoning laws in the state,” says Devin Kulka, CEO of The Kulka Group in Hauppauge. “In almost all cases, any meaningful housing project requires a rezoning, which adds months or years to the entitlement timeline. A longer, more uncertain approval process reduces the number of projects that advance, which ultimately results in fewer construction jobs.”

Kulka also suggests that construction workers have felt pressure from decreasing affordability. “Here on Long Island, the high cost of living pushes younger workers off-Island, and we lose many of our most skilled tradespeople to higher-paying opportunities in New York City.”

For construction firms in our area, it isn’t only the demographics of Long Island’s communities that are concerning. The construction industry workforce is skewed older, which means the labor market may shrink further as more workers begin to retire.

“Across the country, the construction workforce is aging out faster than it’s being replaced,” Kulka says. “Workers under 25 represent only about 10% of the industry, and more than 40% of today’s workforce is expected to retire by 2031.”

Despite data and sentiment that suggest otherwise, John Duffy, business manager and treasurer of Operating Engineers Union Local 138, insists that the construction labor market is healthy on Long Island. “We do not have a labor shortage and the reason for that is we are in a constant state of recruitment, education, training and outreach,” he says. “We have a school entirely dedicated to preparing a new generation for work in our field, allowing us to create a talent pool of smart, focused, and well-prepared operating engineers. It is a program that we take seriously and will continue to do so, avoiding exactly the kind of shortages seen in other parts of the country.”

Duffy denies that the increasingly aggressive federal immigration crackdown has had an effect on construction hiring. “There is no evidence of that on Long Island at this time,” he says.

However, amidst increasing tensions brought about by recent immigration enforcement efforts, construction industry leaders have noticed a dwindling amount of job-seekers. “The construction industry on Long Island, like much of the country, relies heavily on immigrant labor, particularly for skilled and semi-skilled trades,” says Mike Florio, CEO of Long Island Builders Institute in Melville. “The federal immigration crackdown has had a chilling effect on the construction labor pool.”

Although the federal government has reopened after the longest shutdown in U.S. history, the interruption has caused many types of construction work to stall, and firms are hiring less as they reassess demand. “The prolonged government shutdown disrupted funding pipelines for infrastructure and public works projects, causing delays or cancellations,” Florio notes. “This uncertainty forced contractors to pause hiring or reduce staff, compounding the slowdown in construction employment.”

The confluence of aging workers, cost-of-living issues, and panic over immigration enforcement results in higher cost hurdles for construction projects, particularly on Long Island, where the regulatory environment is often cited by industry leaders as an impedance to development activity. “When you combine [these factors] with restrictive zoning laws and a slow project pipeline, it creates a perfect storm—fewer projects to work on, fewer workers to staff them, and higher costs across the board,” says Florio.

Duffy agrees that tighter zoning restrictions across Long Island can dampen not only construction, but other industries as well. “There is little doubt that zoning laws have a direct and meaningful impact on construction jobs,” he says. “If they become so restrictive as to prevent investment in appropriate growth, construction work suffers but, so, too does our region’s entire economy and our ability to protect our shared quality of life.”

Weathering the storm may require supporting initiatives that drive growth in our communities, believes Duffy. “We continue to be advocates for programs we believe are essential to Long Island’s economic growth,” he says. Whether it’s our energy infrastructure, road network, sewers or private investment in building construction, we are found on the front lines supporting these essential infrastructure projects.”

Kulka points to recent successes in communities that have passed zoning reforms. “Overlay districts have already demonstrated their value in stimulating new development and job growth across Long Island,” he says. “We’ve seen strong momentum in East Patchogue, Riverhead, Hicksville, and Baldwin, and we expect Melville to see similar benefits.”

In addition, Kulka believes updating approval processes at municipal agencies can streamline project approvals. “In other regions, developers can log into a portal and track exactly where a project sits in the entitlement process, and see which department is responsible for the next step,” he notes. “That level of visibility keeps projects moving, reduces delays, and ultimately gets construction started faster, which means more jobs, more investment and stronger communities.”

Florio agrees that changes to zoning laws and updates to municipal agencies are necessary, but warns of the downstream consequences of inaction. “Every stalled or blocked project represents dozens of jobs lost, not only in construction but also in related fields like architecture, engineering, and local materials supply,” he says. “Essentially, restrictive zoning constrains both the housing supply and the labor market that depends on it.”