As the global construction industry grapples with an acute labor shortage and the surging demand for complex infrastructure—from AI-ready data centers to semiconductor fabrication plants—contractors are facing a fundamental bottleneck: how to maximize output with a limited workforce. A landmark nationwide field study, released September 2 by the Tempe, Arizona-based Simplar Foundation, suggests the answer may lie in a strategic shift known as "multiskilling."
The research, which involved an extensive audit of construction site dynamics, posits that by training workers to perform verified tasks outside their primary craft, contractors can drastically reduce idle time and increase the percentage of the workday spent on direct, value-added labor.
Defining the Multiskilling Paradigm
For years, the construction industry has operated on a rigid model of specialization. While this ensures deep expertise in specific fields—such as electrical, plumbing, or masonry—it often creates operational silos. Simplar Foundation defines "multiskilling" not as a haphazard practice of workers performing unfamiliar tasks, but as a formal, disciplined approach.
Under this model, workers remain grounded in a primary craft while receiving additional, certified training to perform specific, complementary tasks across other skill classifications. This distinction is critical; it emphasizes verified capabilities over informal task-switching, ensuring that safety and quality standards remain uncompromised while fluidity on the job site increases.
Chronology of the Research Initiative
The Simplar Foundation study was born out of a desire to move beyond anecdotal evidence regarding labor productivity. Funded by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), the six-report research program was designed to provide an empirical foundation for workforce development strategies.
While the ABC provided funding and was granted advance review rights, the Simplar Foundation maintained full control over the methodology, analysis, and conclusions of the research. The study, which spanned 40 site visits across 36 projects in 24 states, meticulously tracked 644 workers across 60 multiskilled crews. By observing these crews in real-time, researchers were able to quantify the friction that occurs when trades are strictly siloed and compare it to the efficiency gains realized when workers possess overlapping skill sets.
The Data: Quantifying Efficiency Gains
The findings from the Simplar report are stark. On average, workers in the observed crews spent 36% of their time performing tasks outside their primary trade. When compared to a control scenario—calculated by projecting how the same work sequences would unfold if the workers were restricted to single-trade responsibilities—the gains were significant.
- Direct-Work Time: Increased by 13 percentage points, a 39% relative improvement.
- Idle Time: Decreased by 31 percentage points, representing a 68% reduction in unproductive downtime.
Perhaps most impressively, the researchers calculated that a workload typically requiring 14 to 17 single-skilled workers could be completed by 10 multiskilled workers. This finding is particularly salient for project managers attempting to navigate the current labor scarcity, as it suggests that "capacity" is not purely a function of headcount, but of organizational flexibility.
Crew-Level Variance and the "Sweet Spot"
Not all construction activities are equally suited for multiskilling. The study revealed that outcomes are heavily dependent on the nature of the work. The largest gains were recorded in environments where trades have highly interdependent scopes and frequent handoffs.
For instance, a seven-worker concrete crew that expanded its remit to include formwork, rebar, welding, and equipment operation saw a 63-percentage-point gain in direct-work time. Conversely, electrical and mechanical crews saw smaller, though still significant, gains of 22 and 8 points, respectively. These results underscore that multiskilling is most effective when it eliminates the "waiting periods" inherent in sequential, multi-trade workflows.
Perspectives from the Field
Joel Dutton, a preconstruction manager at Evans General Contractors—a firm specializing in high-tech facilities like data centers—has seen these benefits firsthand. Drawing on his background as a piping foreman, Dutton notes that the traditional "silo" approach forces crews to stand idle while waiting for a different trade to clear an area or complete a prerequisite step.
"All that downtime spent on moving around the job site gets erased," Dutton stated during an ABC webinar held on the day of the report’s release. He points to pipefitting and pipe welding as the "sweet spot" for this strategy, where the overlap between tasks is high enough that a single crew can manage the full lifecycle of an installation without waiting for an external handoff.
Dutton also highlights the impact this has on the bottom line. By understanding the multiskilling capabilities of his crews during the preconstruction phase, he can more accurately estimate the labor hours required for a specific system. "If you can look at a set of plans and know your crew mix and their level of multiskilling abilities, you can be more aggressive in how much labor you allocate to a specific system," he explained.
The Challenge of Large-Scale Infrastructure
While the data is promising, the application of multiskilling on "megaprojects" presents unique challenges. On massive data center or battery factory projects, certain trades may be kept busy with continuous, specialized work for weeks, leaving little room for cross-tasking. However, it is precisely these large-scale environments where "awkward handoffs" often occur.
Brian Lines, a key researcher at the Simplar Foundation, shared an example of an electrical contractor at a data center project who was prevented by project rules from unloading their own materials. Because the electricians were not "authorized" to handle the materials that their own prefabrication shop had produced, they were forced to wait for another trade to arrive. "It created some waiting around that probably didn’t need to occur," Lines noted.
This suggests that the limitations to multiskilling are not just technical or skill-based, but often institutional and policy-driven.
Official Responses and Industry Implications
The implications of the Simplar study are expected to ripple through the industry, particularly regarding how labor agreements and site management policies are structured. Mike Bellaman, president and CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors, indicated that the association intends to use these findings to push back against policies that restrict multiskilling.
"We previously had largely anecdotal evidence for our position," Bellaman said. "Now, we have the data to demonstrate that restrictive policies are not just a matter of preference—they are a direct drag on national construction productivity."
For general contractors and project owners, the research suggests that the future of competitive bidding may rely on the "multiskillability" of their workforce. As projects become more technically intensive, the ability to flatten the hierarchy of trades and create autonomous, versatile crews will likely become a primary differentiator in project delivery speed and cost-effectiveness.
Future Research: The "Head-to-Head" Comparison
While the current report provides a compelling case for multiskilling, the Simplar Foundation is not stopping there. Researchers are currently preparing a follow-up report that moves beyond observational data to a direct productivity test. By tasking both a multiskilled crew and a series of single-skilled crews with the exact same 11-activity sequence across seven different trades, the Foundation aims to provide the definitive "head-to-head" comparison that the industry has been waiting for.
This upcoming phase will be critical for skeptics who argue that "jack-of-all-trades" crews might sacrifice quality or safety for the sake of speed. By measuring the precision and quality of work alongside productivity metrics, the Foundation hopes to settle the debate once and for all.
Conclusion: A New Era for Construction Labor
The Simplar Foundation’s research serves as a wake-up call to an industry that has remained largely stagnant in its labor management practices. As the demand for sophisticated infrastructure accelerates, the "siloed" model of construction is increasingly becoming a luxury the industry cannot afford.
By validating the effectiveness of multiskilling, the study provides a roadmap for contractors to optimize their existing human capital. Whether through rethinking training programs, adjusting site management protocols, or negotiating more flexible labor agreements, the path forward appears clear: the construction site of the future will be defined by the versatility of its workers, not just their specialization. As contractors look to do more with less, multiskilling offers a proven, empirical strategy to bridge the gap between today’s labor constraints and tomorrow’s infrastructure needs.
