Status analysis and trend prediction for the labor costs of chinese construction industry

Abstract

Chinese huge low-cost labor force provided motive power for the development of construction industry in the past decades. However, Chinese labor costs soar quickly in recent years, which bring pressures to construction enterprises. In order to analyze the problems of rising labor costs of Chinese construction industry in depth, a questionnaire survey is conducted among construction workers and project managers. According to the result of the investigation and statistical data, the rising actuality and influence factors of labor costs in Chinese construction industry are analyzed comprehensively. Then the medium and long term prediction of labor cost is carried out by using GM (1, 1) grey model. The results show that the average pay of Chinese construction workers rose quickly over the past 5 years. Changes of supply-demand relation of labor force, soaring prices and the rapid economic development, and other aspects are the reasons causing the labor costs increase. The average daily pay of Chinese construction workers will keep rising in coming years, and will achieve 337 RMB yuan by 2020. The research results present valuable reference basis for construction enterprises to grasp the development trend of labor costs and takes steps to address the labor cost pressures. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.