Severe Labor Shortages for Construction Trades will only Worsen for Decades

When I began relocating to Wyoming from the “big city” Washington, D.C. suburbs of Arlington, Virginia in 2002, I thought there would be plenty of available and eager labor to hire since there were not many large employers here competing for workers.  WRONG! Although it made no sense to me then, I discovered the opposite situation in Cody, Powell and anywhere in the Bighorn Basin. And in the 22 years since, it has gotten worse. 

Kanye West is a local example that comes to mind. He thought the same thing I did, that he could relocate his business to Cody and tap into a relatively inexpensive and appreciative labor market. Nope… Big fail. Why? Because he could neither find affordable and willing workers, nor affordable housing for them here in Cody. He sought to rent some of my apartment units to house his transition employees and was willing to pay ANY price I asked since alternatives were not available, such as hotels at $250 a night.

Anyone who owns a business is acutely aware of how difficult it is to find and hire workers. There simply never seems to be enough workers interested in or available to hire. Whether in restaurants, retail, or service businesses, “Help Wanted” signs seem to be permanent fixtures on storefront windows.

This new reality has a profound impact directly on homeowners and consumers of services too. If there is more demand for services than the supply, prices increase.  Worse, even homeowners willing to pay higher prices are having a difficult time getting competent providers to do their work. 

Unfortunately, the demographics are not coming to the rescue. Younger people are not interested in going into the trades today.  And the average age of the Skilled Tradesman is now over 55 years old in the USA. And they are retiring faster than they are being replaced, and this will not change in the future, for decades.

As anyone in the Cody, Powell and Bighorn Basin areas soon learns, it is difficult to even get their phone calls to service providers returned! Let alone getting the work performed in a timely and professional manner. A “settling” “take what we can get” attitude sets in fast, which is a shame. People hire whoever they can get, instead of being able to choose the best among alternative company providers.  It feels like a paradoxical situation where homeowners are willing to pay well, but they still cannot get the work done. FRUSTRATING.

This is why I decided to launch Cook Bros. Wyoming.  To fill that need and be a good solution that homeowners are starving to find. Especially, in the “smaller job” marketplace.  New Construction homebuilders can be found if you are willing to wait a year or two.  But try to get a competent contractor to do small jobs and…crickets.  No returned phone call. “Handymen” do not fill this gap because they are not capable of handling many types of work. 

I have spoken to and heard about MANY people who have received outrageously high price quotes and PAID it! for window replacements. I mean prices that are Double and higher than they should be, and for what Cook Bros. Wyoming does the same job for.  Scams abound, taking advantage of frustrated and desperate homeowners who don’t have alternatives.  Well, now they do! 

Nothing is “cheap” anymore these days.  Inflation, which is MUCH higher than the “CP-Lie” figures the government espouses, as we ALL KNOW every time we buy anything, is real. Everything from labor, insurance, materials, and transportation costs are VERY high, and made worse here in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming due to the large geographic areas to be covered by service providers to get to homes in the first place.

It is what it is. BUT you do NOT have to be gouged by scammers charging outrageous prices to get high quality professional work done on your home.  Cook Bros. Wyoming is your logical choice. Give us a call. We will return your call!