Solidarity Sunday: Forecasting 2026
As my mother once told me, "The day after Halloween is Christmas."
The year is flying by, and now is the time of year when the forecasts come out, and those thought-leaders in our industry make predictions for the coming year in construction. Just this week, we've sat in on two webinars on 2026 projections as we all try and get our minds wrapped around man-power needs and opportunities in our local union jurisdictions.
We won't pretend to know what all goes into this, but we will say that overall it seems like an unprecedented opportunity for our building trades unions. Given the circumstances, it's time to make some hay while the sun shines. From what we've been able to discern, industry leaders' forecast is predicated on these points:
- Higher tariffs will raise costs and may disrupt supply chains
- Immigration crackdowns and deportations will accelerate with increased ICE funding
- Expectations of larger deficits may push interest rates higher
- Less support of renewables may slow solar and EV-related projects
- Data Centers, Power, and Infrastructure are best bets for growth
- OBBBA adds certainty about corporate taxes which may lead to speeding up investments
The volatility from tariffs, immigration crackdowns, and supply chains, on top of a workforce that is already short on skilled labor, expose how heavily the non-union sector has relied on undocumented labor. Owners and contractors value certainty over volatility and we are in the best position to provide a legal, predictable, dependable, reliable, and skilled work force. This spells opportunity.
The market needs us. The regions with the most growth also have the most room for properly marketed unions to expand. The sectors predicted for growth are complex and technical projects. The more complex and technical the job, the more our apprentice/journeyman model tilts the market in our favor. If we're ever going to grow market share presence, and influence in these jurisdictions, now is the time.
We have included several slides and sources from the various presentations we attended and hope you will find them helpful to strengthen your position.
