Plumbing

Downtown SF Doom Loop Kills Building Staff’ Jobs

The office exodus in downtown San Francisco has drawn much attention to tech layoffs and a so-called “disaster loop.” But the hollowed-out skyscrapers that have been gathering dust since the start of the work-from-home revolution have also hit the city’s builders hard.

“We can make a direct correlation between downtown job openings and job shortages,” said Rudy Gonzalez, secretary and treasurer of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents 27 unions for skilled contractors and construction workers in the city.

NorCal Carpenters Union is participating in the Affordable Homes Now Rally on Thursday, June 16, 2022 in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. | Eloise Kelsey for The Standard

The Standard spoke to three contractors’ unions, who say a total of 1,200 unionized tradespeople are out of work due to the inner-city spiral. The real number of unemployed artisans, including non-union workers, is likely to be much higher, according to union figures.

Gonzalez said the number of around 1,200 unemployed construction workers came from a survey he conducted in late April of the unemployed membership lists of all 27 unions.

“About 10% of unionized construction workers in San Francisco are unemployed,” Gonzalez said.

Larry Mazzola, executive director of plumbers’ union UA ​​Local 38, says situation is worse than 2008 | Garrett Leahy/The Standard

“It’s worse than 2008 just in terms of the length of time and the number of unemployed people,” said Larry Mazzola, executive director of plumbers’ union UA ​​Local 38, which currently has 200 unemployed members. According to the International Labor Organization, between September 2006 and the last quarter of 2008, around 780,000 US construction jobs disappeared.

“There’s just no work”

San Francisco carpenter Ronald Garibaldi said he has been unemployed since Covid restrictions began in March 2020, despite numerous attempts to find work since then.

“It’s like a wall, man,” Garibaldi said. “It wasn’t easy then, and it’s still not easy to find work.”

Garibaldi worked as a unionized carpenter after retiring from the Navy in 2016. Prior to 2020, he worked on SoMa construction projects as well as lighting work for the Chase Center.

Mayor London Breed (right) chats with construction workers on March 9, 2022 before Breed delivers his State of the City address. | Camille Cohen/The Standard

Michelle Leonard-Bell, executive director of Mission Hiring Hall, a nonprofit recruitment agency for construction workers, said she has been working with Garibaldi since February.

“He was looking for months before I started working with him,” Leonard-Bell said. “He’s absolutely employable. There is simply no work.”

Leonard-Bell said there are many workers like Garibaldi who are unemployed due to vacant offices in downtown San Francisco.

“We have plenty. They just hope one of our construction partners said they needed labor. They check in with us weekly,” Leonard-Bell said. “They’re all in the same boat.”

‘Bread and butter’

One of the main drivers of work — downtown office space remodeling and upgrades, or “tenant improvement projects” — was wiped out by the 2020 shift to working from home, which continues to this day for many office workers.

“Tenant improvement projects are the be-all and end-all for plumbers and electricians,” said Joshua Arce, director of human resources development at the city’s Office of Economic and Human Development. “The decline in tenant fit-out work and the reduction in construction hours are the number one reason for unemployment among plumbers and electricians.”

Construction workers walk down Hyde Street next to a building under construction at Tenderloin in San Francisco on December 14, 2022. | Jason Henry for The Standard

Gonzalez said tenant cleanup work was common pre-Covid and would involve several skilled tradesmen who would do a wide range of work. When a company takes on a lease, the office layout is often redesigned, and even existing tenants would remodel their office from time to time.

“People would want glass walls or an open floor plan — any improvement to a space requires construction,” Gonzalez said. “Moving a wall can require framing, drywall, plumbing, and electrical work.”

Rudy Gonzalez, secretary and treasurer of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, says, “We can draw a direct correlation between downtown job vacancies and the lack of work.” Garrett Leahy/The Standard

Arce said his office is working hand-in-hand with Mayor London Breed and other city departments on a plan to attract businesses back to the city centre, reactivating the area while creating construction jobs.

CONTINUE READING: Downtown San Francisco is dead. Here’s the plan to save it

“We want to see more opportunities for construction downtown,” Arce said. “More work is coming, but not enough, especially downtown.”

“Something needs to happen, and I think the first step is to lure businesses back downtown,” Mazzola said.

Several well-known construction companies operating in San Francisco, including Emerald Fund, Tishman Speyer and Strata Investment Group, did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

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