Chan, A P C; Chiang, Y H; Wong, F K W; Liang, S and Abidoye, F A (2020) Work-life balance for construction manual workers. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 146(5): 04020031, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The construction industry is facing an acute labor shortage around the globe, which has caused an escalation in construction costs and project delays. Work-life imbalance is identified as a major detrimental factor in attracting young people to join the industry. Previous research on work-life balance (WLB) has focused on shift workers, females, and managerial and professional individuals. There is still a paucity of literature on WLB for manual workers, in particular, manual workers in the construction industry. This paper aims to investigate how workers perceive their WLB and identify the factors that affect WLB in the construction industry. Based on interviews with the chief executives and senior officers from key trade unions, a questionnaire survey was conducted covering all types of construction manual workers including building, civil engineering, and electrical and mechanical (E&M) workers. A total of 970 valid answers were analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings identified workplace support as the most critical area of concern. Additionally, work-life balance was found to have significant effects on the perceived health and safety of workers. The sample size of this study is so far the largest of its kind. This study helps us make informed suggestions for improving work-life balance in the construction industry, and hence its attractiveness to the younger generation to solve the labor aging and shortage problems.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction workers; electrical and mechanical workers; health and safety; labor shortage; work-life balance |
| Index terms: | construction cost, sample size, trade union, labour shortage, executive, work-life balance, construction worker, construction industry, health and safety, interview, survey, structural equation modelling, questionnaire, project delay |
| Subjects: | financial and cost management, data collection methods, research design and methodology, practitioner, project controls, sociology, industry analysis, statistical analysis, management, economics, health safety and environment |
| Topics: | Supply Chain Management, Human Resources, Time Control, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Cost Management, Roles and Professions |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here