What the Construction Industry Should Know About COVID Relief
The current global pandemic has been hard on everyone, but some industries found themselves taking the brunt of the backlash. The construction sector is one of them. A new presidential administration and a new year are both promising relief, but what do construction companies need to know about COVID relief measures in 2021?
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COVID’s Impacts
What sort of impacts has the global pandemic had on the construction industry as a whole? It varies from market to market, with some states and countries naming construction an essential industry and others forcing a shutdown.
Remote work isn’t an option for construction workers, leaving many employees struggling to make ends meet as projects get delayed or canceled.
We’ve all been looking forward to some COVID relief, but how can it benefit construction workers and the industry as a whole?
2020’s Last Relief Package
At the end of 2020, then-President Trump signed a Coronavirus Relief Package into law, which offered $600 direct payments for individuals and extended unemployment benefits.
For the construction industry specifically, an additional $285.4 billion was set aside for Paycheck Protection Program loans, which companies can apply for. If companies use their loans to continue paying workers, the loans don’t have to be repaid.
President Biden’s Plan for 2021
President Biden’s State of the Union address is scheduled for February 23rd, and one of the things he’s expected to address is his Build Back Better Infrastructure plan.
We don’t have many precise details yet, but we know he is planning more than $2 trillion in infrastructure spending, with the ultimate goal of “reestablishing the U.S. as a global, economic, and political leader.”
We’ll have a better idea of what the plan will entail after Biden’s State of the Union address, but even the promise of construction funding has helped to bolster the market, sending stocks climbing slowly skyward.
Rebuilding the Industry
Beyond President Biden’s infrastructure plan, what will it take to credibly rebuild the construction industry in a post-COVID-19 world?
A large part of it is going to depend on what gets announced at the State of the Union, but that’s not the only thing construction professionals can do to help rebuild the construction industry and return it to its former glory.
Many of the safety and cleanliness techniques established to allow safe work to continue through the pandemic will continue to serve us well even after it ends. Adopting new technologies that have emerged during this event will make it easier to complete projects and meet deadlines as things start to return to normal.
While most of the construction industry requires employees to be physically present, the growing trend of remote work may start to impact construction as well, giving employees a way to earn a living without putting themselves at risk.
Again, many of these changes are contingent on what President Biden announces during his State of the Union address. We’ll have to wait until after February 23 to have a clear picture of where the industry is headed.
Moving Toward a Post-COVID-19 World
The COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 as a whole threw a wrench in a lot of plans. But 2021 is all about helping us recover. President Biden’s plan to bolster infrastructure with a massive investment is just one facet of this. Eventually, things will get back to normal and COVID-19 will be a thing of the past. While we wait for that return to normality, there are still steps we can take to move things in the right direction.
About the Author: Emily is a green tech writer who covers topics in renewable energy and sustainable design. You can read more of her work on her blog, Conservation Folks.
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