Work to fix the damn roads, build more housing and manufacturing plants leads to most construction jobs state has seen in 22 years

LANSING, MI - On July 11, 2024, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced new data showing Michigan construction jobs are at a 22-year high, with 204,500 working these good-paying, middle class jobs. Across the state, record road, housing, and manufacturing facility construction is being powered by strategic state-level investments and the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda. Thanks to a commitment to building and making things in America, roads are getting fixed, affordable housing is going up everywhere, and factories are coming back to small towns. 

“Michiganders are rolling up their sleeves and building the roads, housing, and manufacturing plants we need to grow our economy and lead the future,” said Governor Whitmer. “Thanks to the investments we have made as a state and our allies in the Biden-Harris administration, Michigan is experiencing a record boom in construction jobs. More than 204,000 Michiganders are working good-paying, middle class construction jobs, getting their hands dirty to move our state forward. I am grateful for their work as we build, baby, build!” 

Booming Construction Jobs

Michigan’s construction sector is thriving. 204,500 Michiganders are working construction, the highest level since 2002. They are putting in the work fixing roads and bridges and putting up new factories and housing. Before Governor Whitmer took office, 171,400 Michiganders were working construction jobs. Today, there are 33,100 more Michiganders working construction, a nearly 20% increase. Over the past year, construction jobs have grown faster than any other sector of Michigan. In 12 months, there has been an 8.4% increase in construction jobs.  

This historic growth has been driven by record, bipartisan investments in several balanced Michigan state budgets and transformational legislation enacted by the Biden-Harris Administration including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act.  

Putting Michiganders on the Path to Good-Paying, Middle Class Construction Jobs

The Whitmer-Gilchrist administration and their partners in the Michigan Legislature have established or funded programs putting Michiganders on tuition-free paths to higher education or skills training and invested in infrastructure projects creating tens of thousands of construction jobs. 

Supporting Workers

- Michigan Reconnect, that gives anyone 25 and older (and temporarily anyone 21 and older) the chance to earn an associate’s degree or skills certificate, tuition-free. 46,000 students have enrolled and 7,000 have already graduated.

- Going Pro, a successful bipartisan program that helps businesses upskill their employees, which has already helped thousands of workers get better-paying, in-demand jobs with their employer.

- Tuition-free community college for all high school graduates, a game-changing investment secured in the recently passed balanced state budget, which will be signed in the weeks ahead. 

Building Infrastructure, Bringing Manufacturing Home

- The Rebuilding Michigan Plan, a $3.5 billion bond plan to fix economically critical roads and bridges, supporting more than 45,000 jobs.

- Supporting registered apprenticeships, which offer thousands of Michiganders hands-on training for in-demand careers.

- The bipartisan Building Michigan Together Plan, a nearly $5 billion investment to build up roads, bridge, water, parks, and high-speed internet infrastructure in every region of the state.

- Securing the largest investment to build housing in Michigan history-10,000 units-and the largest investment to revitalize communities and eliminate blight ever.

- Michigan leading nation in clean energy projects stemming from the federal Inflation Reduction Act-58 projects, $25 billion of investment, 21,490 jobs.