[bbradley406]

Wages for construction workers have not kept up with inflation, much like other fields. Unless you're a Master - tier specialist in your field, you will probably be making at best $15/hr to $25/hr with minimal (if any) benefits.

There's simply few reasons to enter the field and risk long term health issues when you can make the same amount, or better doing paperwork in an office.

[bobthepanda]

we also had a whole new category of job (gig economy) and a massive increase in a related category (delivery) show up for unskilled work. In general there seems to be a labor mismatch now, and existing regulations certainly don't help (e.g. you need to not have smoked weed in the last six months to hold a CDL to drive a truck around, and these days that probably eliminates a good chunk of that skill segment)